Cross Creek’s High School boys basketball team stayed hot as the Razorbacks dominated Harlem 73-44 on Friday, Feb 7.
The Razorbacks finished the regular season 24-1 overall and 16-0 in region play before heading to the region tournament next week.
“The biggest thing is our preparation but also the guys are playing together and for each other,” said Cross Creek Coach Lawrence Kelly.
Friday’s game began back and forth as Harlem got out to an early 8-7 lead. Cross Creek fought back to tie the game 12-12 and go ahead 16-12 to end the first quarter.
The Razorbacks lead by 9 points from junior guard Ahmaad Anthony went on a 16-0 run and out scored the Bulldogs 24-5 in the second quarter.
Momentum extended in the second half for Cross Creek as the team outmatched Harlem and went on to win 73-44.
“In the first half, we had some defense lapses that we wanted to correct and offensively we were stagnant a little bit,” said Kelly. “We just wanted to pick up pace offensively and on defensive side we made sure everybody was accounted for on who they were guarding.”
The Razorbacks were led by senior Tyjai Heard who hit four threes in the game and 14 points.
While the upperclassmen led Cross Creek in scoring Friday night, the young guys have been the key to the Razorbacks success. Sophomore starters Derrick Shine Jr. and Frashad Tisby have been two of the best players for the Razorbacks this season.
“It is a great thing to have not only veterans guys that can impact the game but also have young guys as well,” Kelly said. “We got two young guys that start for us, but also a third on any given night that can potentially start. They come in, they put the work in and do the little things and that is going to put them out on the floor and help them be successful on the court.”
Cross Creek now has the region tournament starting next week. The first game is to be announced.
“We just need to do what we’re known to do and that is play Cross Creek basketball,” Kelly said. “We can’t get away from ourselves regardless of who we are playing, whatever calls may happen but just making sure we stay grounded and stay true to playing Cross Creek basketball.”
Christopher Rickerson, an Augusta University graduate, has covered area sports for Augusta University, The Augusta Press and Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the Augusta Good News newsletter here.
