Conway, SC – The Atlantic Collegiate Academy boys' basketball team put up a pair of big victories over the weekend, downing Kingstree High in Region 7-AA play on Friday before topping the Class 5A Demons of Lugoff-Elgin on Saturday in the King's Classic at Marion High.
The Armada now stands at 12-3 overall, 4-1 in region play going into what is scheduled to be a busy week of play. ACA is scheduled to host Mullins High in region play on Tuesday night before playing a pair of non-region contests at the end of the week – at Clear Dot Charter on Thursday and at home against Combine Academy on Friday.
All three of those scheduled contests are in jeopardy due to the potential for winter weather across South Carolina that is slated to begin on Tuesday. Any impact on the schedule of games will be posted to ACA social media and to the school website as soon as information becomes available.
In addition to the varsity boys earning two wins, the Armada's JV boys defeated Kingstree 38-32.
In Friday's home game against Kingstree (5-15, 1-5) the Armada faced little resistance from the Blazers in a 74-40 victory. ACA opened quickly, building a nine-point lead at the end of the first quarter, before pushing the advantage to 21 points, 36-15, by halftime.
"We did not know anything about Kingstree going into the game," Armada coach
Tanner Massey said. "We had to focus strictly on us. Credit to Kingstree's fight in the first half. They are well-coached and made us earn our way."
ACA continued to pull away in the second half, outscoring the Blazers 15-9 in the third quarter and 23-16 in the final period.
Seniors
Jamie Brooks and
Jaylen Bellamy led a balanced ACA scoring attack with 12 and 11 points respectively. Brooks had eight rebounds in the game while fellow senior forward
CJ Hemingway had nine boards.
Senior guard Mal'aki Matthews led all scorers in the game with 19 points for Kingstree.
The Armada faced a more formidable challenge in a neutral site game on Saturday but used a huge third quarter run to defeat Lugoff-Elgin (12-6) 59-46 in a game played at Marion High.
ACA took a slim lead over the Demons, 14-13, in the opening quarter, but struggled in the second quarter and trailed 28-18 at halftime.
"This game has a bit of everything, both adversity and jubilation," Massey said. "Lugoff-Elgin is one of the best teams in the state and has elite athleticism. They have great guards and do what they do well as a team. We struggled in the first half on the glass and with our spacing."
The third quarter saw the game completely flip as the Armada blitzed the Demons 26-3 to flip a 28-18 deficit into a 44-31 lead. ACA held off any comeback efforts for the Demons over the final quarter to preserve that 13-point lead.
"We responded with great awareness and execution in the second half," Massey said. "From the beginning, out guys were locked in defensively and did an unbelievable job. I am proud of their efforts. This is a great win for our team."
Brooks again led ACA in scoring with 23 points and nine rebounds while Bellamy added 15 points with three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
About Atlantic Collegiate Academy: Atlantic Collegiate Academy (ACA), located in Myrtle Beach, S.C., serves high school students in a safe, small and family-centered setting. Our students seek the opportunity and challenge of rigorous curriculum, high academic standards and elite athletics while also earning up to two years of college credit. ACA serves students in grades 9-12 using an honors curriculum in 9th and 10 grades with a dual enrollment curriculum in 11th and 12th grades.
Learn more about ACA by visiting our website at AtlanticCollegiate.Academy and by following us on social media on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
