Harrison drops 23 points for boys, APA girls still perfect
Photos by Bud Hardy/Neuse News
Harrison drops 23 points for boys
First-year Parrott Academy head varsity boys' basketball coach Glen Taylor is finally seeing some fight, fire and grit in his team.
Parrott Academy’s Nick Harrison (right) drives to the basket against Harrells Christian’s Ethan Spell during their game Tuesday evening. Bud Hardy/Neuse News
It helps when Nick Harrison fills up the bucket, too.
The lone returning starter from a year ago, Harrison drained the nets for 23 points as the Patriots turned back physical-minded Harrells Christian, 60-48, on Tuesday evening. Harrison buried four 3-pointers - all in the fourth quarter.
"Great to see Harrison catch fire," said Taylor. "He's a little bit rusty coming off of football season. He caught fire. He changes the whole team, man, when he starts knocking shots down."
Each time the Crusaders pulled to within 10 points in the final period, Harrison calmly sank a three due to sharp ball movement around the perimeter. He connected on eight field goals overall.
Mateus Prado added 18 points and distributed five assists for the Patriots, who prevailed for the third time in their last four outings on the hardwood. Tomir Moore doled out six assists. Will Whitley snagged 10 rebounds and passed out three assists.
Harrells coerced Parrott into 20 turnovers and constantly won the loose-ball battle around the basket.
Taylor was glad to see his team fight through adversity.
"We're learning to fight, get a little better here and there," Taylor said. "We'll keep chopping wood until we put it all together."
APA girls still perfect
Lekea Boney's contested 3-pointer gave Harrells Christian a 6-5 lead early in the opening period.
Parrott Academy’s Hannah Dawson (3) looks for an open teammate during fourth-quarter action against Harrells Christian on Tuesday evening. Bud Hardy/Neuse News
The Crusaders didn't score again for a long time.
Unbeaten Parrott Academy erupted for 40 consecutive points during a 14 1/2-minute span and rolled 57-9 for its eighth victory of the season without any blemishes on its worksheet.
Virginia Edmondson led three Patriots in double figures with 15 points and added six assists, four rebounds and four steals.
"The best thing is this helps us get a little bit back in shape because we had taken off the [Thanksgiving] holidays," APA head coach Kelly Johnson said. "It allowed us to play a lot of man-to-man defense, which we haven't played a lot of and we got to play everybody, which is always nice.
"I thought we moved the ball well on offense, thought we were very unselfish. I liked the way they played together and played hard."
Rachel Okonkwo just missed a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Ava Blair knocked down 12 points as Parrott won its fifth straight against Harrells.
Parrott entertains Pope John Paul II on Thursday. Tip-off is 5:30 p.m.
