By: Sean Moylan
It didn’t look good for the Life Center Academy boys’ varsity basketball team.
It had lost its first two games of the National Christian Invitational Tournament on Thursday in Erie, Pennsylvania and its first opponent on Friday was Northeast Prep, a team with a great reputation. But the Warriors would not be denied. They defeated Northeast Prep, 70-65, Friday morning and then they came back to crush Milestone Christian, 101-60, later the same day, which qualified the Warriors to play in Saturday’s third-place tourney game.
Pitted against Milestone Christian LCA won by a 100-85 score to finish third in the tourney. Not bad for a club that started out 0-2.
In Thursday’s opener, Harmony Community Christian, which eventually won the tournament, beat LCA 82-75 in overtime.
"They had college rules and played 20 minute halves. We were up much of the game. And we had a chance to win but we missed at the (regulation) buzzer," said LCA head coach Billy Rhoades.
LCA freshman point guard Chris Thompson injured one of his fingers early in the contest and could not return. In the Harmony Christian game, LCA was not the same team without him running the show. But the Warriors would make adjustments to come back stronger than ever later in the tourney.
Peter Simek (20 points) and Sam Obetoh (18 points) each played very well to keep the Warriors in the game.
Tired, the Warriors lost a 78-66 decision to Scadding Court later that day. But LCA got a second wind and came back to beat Northeast Prep on Friday morning. Peter Dorazil and Simek played major roles in that victory.
Then on Friday afternoon LCA played what was probably its best game of the year as it took advantage of its superior height to clobber Milestone Christian.
"We played 39 games this year. That was the first game all year that I sat there with a big smile on my face the entire game," said Rhoades.
Michal Lesicky tallied 29 points to pace the Warriors to victory. Khalid Murphy drained 4 treys on his way to scoring 18 points. Simek also netted 18 while Obetoh played a strong all-around game.
LCA came back on Saturday and wrapped up third place with a 15-point win over Milestone Christian. Simek scored 28 points while Obetoh tossed in 16 points.
"When you’ve already beaten a team by 40, it’s hard to beat them by 40 again. And that team had one kid who hit seven threes," added Rhoades, whose team led by over 20 points much of the way.
Life Center Academy also played a lot of its bench players in that final contest. When Thompson went down, LCA used Dylan Talley as its point guard.
"That boy (Talley) has come a long way. He made us a better team by scoring less and passing the basketball," noted Rhoades.
In reality the National Christian Invitational Tournament has become bigger than the Penn-Jersey League title game for LCA. Simek and Lesicky, LCA’s only seniors, both made the All-Tournament team. However, there were college coaches who showed interest in several of LCA’s players this past weekend. So from that standpoint alone, it was a productive extended weekend for the Warriors and a great way to end a 24-15 season.
