Zion Williamson got the senior night crowd roaring right from tipoff with thunderous dunks and his usual flashy offensive play to lead Spartanburg Day to a 90-40 victory over Spartanburg Christian Friday night.
Williamson finished with a game-high 35 points in just three quarters of action.
The Warriors never found steady footing on either side of the ball. They never seemed to be able to match the intensity of the Griffins, and very quickly they were down double digits and eventually 29-11 after one.
“Tonight, I thought we looked overwhelmed from the tip. Our approach tonight gets us beat by a bunch of people,” Warriors coach Chris Arp said.
With the region tournament and the state playoffs fast approaching, Griffins coach Lee Sartor was pleased to see his team play such a complete game.
“This is the time of year it becomes important. You’re getting ready for conference playoffs and you’re getting ready for the state playoffs. My goal always is to be sure we’re playing our best ball this time of year,” said Griffins coach Lee Sartor.
Christian Kincaid led the Warriors with 14 points, while Bryson Bishop added 12.
Other double digit scorers for the Griffins were Matt Brown with 20 and Chandler Lindsey with 15.
GIRLS
Spartanburg Christian 30, Spartanburg Day 27: Defense dominated in the Warriors' win over the Griffins.
Neither team found any separation throughout the first three quarters and through the first part of the fourth. Though, about midway through the fourth, the Warriors started to maintain at least a one possession lead.
Even though that lead never reached more than five points, SCA coach Monica Fain was very pleased with the way her team executed.
“I thought we were really patient on offense and really took good shots. Even though they weren’t falling they were the shots I would like for us to take. We followed our game plan really well,” said Fain.
While the same low scoring results were achieved, the Griffins and Warriors achieved them in slightly different ways.
The Griffins used a tight press to pressure the ball handler throughout the game, especially their backcourt of Brittany Mack and Kathleen Babb. It prevented the Warriors from feeding the ball inside to their post while also keeping them from finding consistent open looks from range.
On the other side, the Griffins did well to have numerous fast break opportunities. However, the Warriors were able to get back just in time to force turnovers and also get rebounds when SDS got their shots off.
“This is always a hard place to come in and play, it’s fun to play here. Regardless of the teams it’s always a good battle between us. It’s always a good post, hard defensive game, and I felt like both teams played really good defense,” Fain said.