North Cross clearly showed it will be a factor in the VIC basketball race this season as it opened conference play with an impressive 75-53 win over Fishburne Military at the James Muscaro gym Friday night.
The Raiders opened up a 31-19 halftime lead and used their speed to pull away in the second half when Fishburne attempted to keep pace with the North Cross running game.
North Cross was led by newcomer Jerome Hairston’s 26 points and 11 assists. Brandon Trent chipped in 13 points and big-man Toles Hartman owned the paint at both ends while scoring 10 for the Raiders.
North Cross has overcome some early season adversity to reach this point. “We had some holdover players from our playoff football team, “Raider Head Coach, Joe Lambert, noted after the game. “We lost games to the snow and encountered some injuries. It’s hard to prepare for all that.”
The most notable injury was to returning standout A.D. Banks, who suffered a broken jaw in a pickup game in early December. Banks will hopefully return to the Raider lineup before the end of the season.
In the meantime, North Cross continues to gel. “We’re improving in our running game, “Lambert says. “These guys are very athletic .Jerome Hairston has proved to be an exceptional addition. We’ll be ready to go.”
By Bill Turner [email protected]
