Christ Church send senior basketball players off in style
By Neill Kirkpatrick
Special to the HSSR
Greenville – On February 8th, the Christ Church Cavaliers had senior night to honor their eight seniors’ players but that was not the end of their careers as both the girls’ and boys’ teams made deep rune into the playoffs with the boys ending in back-to-back state championships.
The girls’ team finished third in region 1A which meant they would be on the road during the playoffs. They went to HKT and defeated the Lady Trojans 73-36. The Lady Cav’s followed that up by beating a number one seed McCormick 73-43 before falling at St. Joseph 59-42. After the game it was time to say goodbye to seniors Louise Martin and Lenior Rhyne signee Alex Bennon.
“Alex has been the heart and soul of the team all year. But as good as a player as she is, she is a better teammate. When she gets going, she is hard to stop and it has been a pleasure to coach her the past few years,” said head coach Jordan Fillatreau.
“Louise did not see a lot of time on the court, but she worked hard every day in practice. She was always engaged and was a great teammate.,” said coach Fillatrean.
The boys’ team followed a different path than 2022/23 to win their state championship. Gone was the 6-10/7-foot aircraft carrier in the middle to protect the rim. This year’s squad was a more pressure, in your face, do not let your man get behind you suffocating defensive team. It really showed in the playoffs as they held four of their five opponents to less the 50 points a game and outscored them by 29 points a game, 75.4 to 46.
That style of play sent their seniors, Thomas Nuckolls, Mathew Covington, D.J. Harvey, Jack Fagan, Charlie Creech, and Cooper Hronchek off with the back-to-back titles.
“Our seniors were phenomenal. We have two that play a lot in DJ Harvey and Jack Fagan. DJ has been for six years, so I have to figure out what to do without him next year and Jack just leaves on the court every night,” said coach John Butler.
Harvey finished his career with 1026 points to go with over 500 rebounds and a school record 388 assists while Fagan finished his career with over 390 points and 106 three pointers. He drained 58 this year.
Coach continued, “We added Cooper and Matt. They do not play a lot, but they are the best teammates I have ever been around. They bring energy and they supported everyone. Then there is Thomas and Charlie. Thomas had season ending surgery, but he was here to support us. These guys just wanted for everyone.”
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