For the fourth consecutive time the Henderson Collegiate men’s basketball team has made the Sweet 16. Last night Henderson Collegiate defeated West Columbus at Aycock Gym by the score of 62 – 39. The game marked the program’s 100th win and star T.J. Ragland reached the 500 point mark in his high school career. “We knew we had to wear them down,” Coach George Marshall said. “This team is super unique, we know how to win ugly,” Marshall continued.
Marshall feels the team is peaking at the right time. When you consider the team lost nine seniors from last years team then the march through the playoffs is even more impressive. Marshall also feels the team does have room for improvement citing more patience at the free throw line and the need to score a few more points. “The odds of 20 point wins from here on out are slim to none,” Marshall said. Henderson Collegiate also defeated Vance Charter School 74-41 earlier in the playoffs and those big wins are going to disappear most likely starting with tomorrow’s game against Kip Pride. Henderson Collegiate defeated Kip Pride 68-57 back on February 5th but that was a different time. Marshall described Kip Pride as hungry and healthy. Coach Marshall says his team has been great at finding a way to work together to get the job done. In the first meeting with Kip Pride the team trailed by 15 going into the fourth quarter before pulling out the win.
Tomorrow’s game will be the third home game in a row during the playoff run and Marshall is looking forward to a full gym at Aycock tomorrow as Henderson Collegiate looks to advance to the next round of the playoffs.