Victory boys, girls beat Metro
BY BARRY LEWIS World Sports Writer
Saturday, January 05, 2013
1/05/13 at 6:19 AM
Victory Christian sophomore guard Chris Crawford didn't show any rustiness after being sidelined four weeks due to an ankle injury.
Crawford and Jake Freeman had 14 points each to propel the Class 4A No. 3 Conquerors past visiting Metro Christian 60-30 on Friday.
"This was Chris' first game since the finals of the Mannford tournament," Victory coach Ryan Wakley said. "Chris had a great night. He has been playing outstanding for us all year. He has really grown and matured. I love his leadership."
Victory also welcomed back to action senior Damion Parker, who had been sidelined a month with a knee injury (torn meniscus). Parker had five points.
Keats Calhoon, Joel Awalt and Alex Freeman added six points apiece for Victory, which improved to 8-1.
"It shows the depth we have as a team," Wakley said. "We've been battling some injuries and missed those guys. But we were able to fill in and bring them along slowly and not push them to a point where they would get hurt again. We're just battling our way back right now."
Crawford had 11 points in the first half to help the Conquerors surge to a 35-9 lead. And a layoff also didn't slow down his teammates, who had last played Dec. 18. Metro (4-6) was playing its second game in as many nights coming off a 57-48 win over Holland Hall.
"I wasn't surprised that we played well," Crawford said. "We worked hard over the break."
Wakley added, "As a coach you're always worried and a little nervous about how you'll come back but we were able to scrimmage last Saturday and I thought we would be able to execute the things we needed to tonight.
"It took us about five minutes to really get into the flow of it, but once they did they were just off and going."
Link Strickland paced the Patriots with 10 points, including two treys, while teammate Garrett Richardson scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter on three treys.
Victory Christian 64, Metro Christian 40 (girls): LaRanda Thomas had 22 points and Bailey Bergman scored 19 to lead Victory (5-4).
Thomas had 13 in the first quarter, including her third of four treys as time expired to give the Conquerors a 20-9 lead.
"When she shoots the ball well, we're good," Victory coach Ed Calhoon said.
Metro cut its deficit to 28-19, but Thomas' three-point play and a Bergman trey in the final 30 seconds of the first half gave Victory a 34-19 lead going into intermission.
Victory had nine treys, including three by Kacie Key, who had 13 points.
"We played well offensively and shot the ball well," Calhoon said, "Our identity on offense is shooting 3s. We've got some work to do defensively, but I am pleased with where we're at considering that we're starting four sophomores."
Sydney Burn led Metro with 16 points.
VICTORY CHR. 60, METRO CHR. 30 (boys)
| Metro Christian |
4 |
5 |
7 |
14 |
- |
30 |
| Victory Christian |
17 |
18 |
16 |
9 |
- |
60 |
Metro Christian (4-6): Strickland 10, Richardson 9, Freese 5, Angell 4, Canady 2.
Victory Christian (8-1): Crawford 14, J.Freeman 14, Awalt 6, Calhoon 6, A.Freeman 6, Parker 5, E.Adesokan 4, Terry 3, King 2.
VICTORY CHR. 64, METRO CHR. 40 (girls)
| Metro Christian |
9 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
- |
40 |
| Victory Christian |
20 |
14 |
9 |
21 |
- |
64 |
Metro Christian (2-6): Burn 16, Schooley 7, Krieger 7, Spear 5, Stegmann 5.
Victory Christian (5-4): Thomas 22, Bergman 19, Key 13, Wade 4, Crow 2, Jones 2, McKenzie 2.
Barry Lewis 918-581-8393
barry.lewis@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Victory's Chris Crawford (left) yanks the ball away for the turnover on Metro's Garrett Richardson and Connor Freese in the first half of their game on Friday. MICHAEL WYKE/ Tulsa World
Victory's Emmanuel Adesokan pulls in a rebound over Metro's Link Strickland in the first half of their game on Friday. MICHAEL WYKE/ Tulsa World
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