The Hargrave Military Academy Tigers went a perfect 2-0 this weekend to keep the First Piedmont Corp. Invitational trophy at home in Walter Davis Gymnasium. The Tiger’s kept their pristine record in the nationally covered event, and also pushed their home court win streak to new heights. Game recaps can be found below:
Semi-Final: #2 Hargrave Military Academy 118, Mt. Zion Christian 81
Hargrave utilized a balanced scoring approach that saw 11 players score 7 or more points to dispatch the Crusaders of Mt. Zion Christian Academy for a third time this season. The Tigers were led by Naji Marshall, who lost his 6 game double-double streak in the contest, but still managed a 19 point, 8 rebound effort in the win. Trey Kelley (15 points, 5-8 3pt) continued his hot shooting from deep, while Antwan Walker (11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and Iran Bennett (10 points, 5-6 shooting) dominated the paint. Clayton Hughes put in another solid all-around game, scoring 10 points with the aid of two three pointers while also producing team highs in rebounds (9), steals (4) and blocks (4). The dynamic backcourt of Braxton Beverly (9 points, 8 assists, 3 rebounds) and Brandon Knapper (10 points, 4 assists) also had productive games in the convincing win.
Championship: #2 Hargrave Military Academy 111, #7 Massanutten Military Academy 84
In a heavyweight match-up featuring two teams ranked in the top 10 nationally, the Hargrave Tigers were able to control the game from the tip and cruise to an easy victory to complete the season sweep of their rivals from Woodstock. The Tigers jumped out to an early 11-2 lead in the game’s opening moments and didn’t look back, never trailing in the contest.
For the second time this season, Massanutten had no answer for Naji Marshall, who followed up his 30 point, 20 rebound performance from the team’s first matchup with a 23 point, 21 rebound performance in the title game this time around. Marshall scored his 23 points on just 13 shots and was also able to rack up 6 assists in the remarkable performance.
Up and down the lineup, Hargrave got big performances from it’s players in a big time match-up. Brandon Knapper once again led the Tigers in scoring, scoring from all three levels consistently en route to a 26 point, 4 rebound, 6 assist, 4 steal performance. Iran Bennett dominated the paint on both ends of the court and walked away with a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds. Braxton Beverly joined Iran Bennett and Naji Marshall in the double-double club in the game, scoring 18 points and dishing out 10 assists. Antwan Walker (11 points) also recorded a double-digit scoring game for the Tigers.
Looking Forward
With the pair of wins, the Tigers close out their home slate for the 2016-17 season. They finish the year a perfect 23-0 at home, and extended their home winning streak to 75 games. The Tigers will take their 40-1 record and 26 game overall winning streak to Chapel Hill to take on the University of North Carolina JV team on Tuesday February 28th, before heading to New Haven, CT to defend their National Championship in the National Prep Championships on March 8th and 9th.
Hargrave would like to thank it’s title sponsor for the event, First Piedmont Corp. for it’s generosity and continued support of Hargrave Basketball.
