Crusaders sweep in RAAC hoops debut

John Cate, The Sanford Herald, N.C.
·2 min read

Dec. 1—Grace Christian began its Raleigh Area Athletic Conference era in basketball Tuesday night, with both varsity teams scoring blowout victories over visiting Friendship Christian, and the reigning 1A state champion Lady Crusaders making their home debut for 2022-23.

The games themselves didn't offer much in the way of competition, as the Lady Crusaders dominated from start to finish against Friendship and won the game 103-3, and the men came out and played at a greater than 100-point pace for three quarters before clearing the bench in a coasting to an 83-54 win. The score at the end of the third quarter was 80-41.

Grace's JV girls players probably would have seen playing time in this one, except that they were on the road for a game of their own, and routed Cary Academy 43-23.

In the men's game, Grace (5-3, 1-0) expected a one-sided win and got it. Friendship, a 2A team and longtime RAAC member based out of Durham, entered having split its first four games, but only one of them, against Neuse Charter, was against anyone Grace might consider scheduling for a non-conference game, and Neuse beat the Eagles by 38 points.

It went as expected. The Crusaders scored 26 points in each of the first two quarters and then added 28 more in the third, in which they reached the 40-point lead for a running clock late in the period. The teams played the final period with Grace having cleared the bench and the clock running.

Ma'kyi Butler led the Crusaders with 24 points, followed by Landon Wester with 18 and Sam Streeter with 14. Kaleb Smith and Jimmy Zimmermann each had eight and Derius Hodges seven.

The Grace men play again Friday night at Thales-Rolesville in another conference game. The Lady Crusaders, who are now 3-0 on the season, have a home game against Burlington School this evening at 6 p.m. before playing Thales-Rolesville on Friday.

Grace 43, Cary

Academy 23

The JV Lady Crusaders came together for their first win Tuesday against Cary Academy.

They were led by a strong defensive effort. Annika Johansson showed great leadership throughout the game at the point guard position. The top scorers were Sydney Damude with 15 points, McKenzie McDougall with 14, and Annika Johansson with eight.