The tip off Monday night came at the tipoff.
Standing in the center court circle for the opening jump ball, 6-foot-7 North Cross forward Bennett Holley never left his feet when the ball went up.
His counterpart from Roanoke Valley Christian easily controlled the tip and the Eagles took the opening possession. It wasn’t, as some spectators thought, a Holley folly.
“No, not any kind of stunt,” Holley admitted with a huge laugh in the North Cross locker room afterward. “I just wasn’t ready. I was standing there looking around and suddenly I realized the ball had gone up.”
Holley redeemed himself in a hurry.
The senior buried four straight bombs from behind-the-arc to open the game for a 12-0 Raider lead, and North Cross used a second half surge to coast to the 74-51 win over the Eagles.
The Raider height dominated on both ends, with baskets in the paint and control on the boards.
But, Roanoke Valley Christian had plenty of fight, cutting the North Cross lead to six points midway through the second quarter.
“We tried,” Roanoke Valley Christian head coach Alen Naff said of battling the height advantage of the Raiders. “We kept fighting and cut it to six in the second quarter. There’s a lot of heart and hustle on our team. We played team basketball and a game like this will take us a long way.”
The Raiders led 20-11 after one quarter and 37-24 at the halftime break. But, North Cross began to pull away in the third, leading 58-39 heading to the final eight minutes. The Raider lead reached 25 midway through the final frame before the subs settled the final margin.
“We used our height and got some fast-break baskets in the second half,” North Cross head coach Ed Green noted. “That was the difference. Give Roanoke Valley Christian credit, they hit some big 3s and cut it to six points in the second quarter.”
The Raiders hit 10 3-pointers in the game. Holley led the Raider attack with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Senior Keith Oddo and junior Peyton Bailey followed with 17 points apiece for North Cross, while senior center Kennedy Nwabia poured in 13.
On the Eagle side, Hank Conner had a game-high 23 points, with Isaac Elliot netting 13 points for RVC.
The game saw neither team reach a one-and-one bonus situation during the entire contest. The two squads combined for only 6 fouls in the first half and 8 in the second.
– Bill Turner
