LCA coach taking team down the right ‘Rhoades’

By Sean Moylan, Sports Writer
   This year the Life Center Academy boys’ varsity basketball team strengthened its schedule so it wouldn’t win as many blowout games as it has in the past. Yet, even with their tougher schedule, Billy Rhoades’ Warriors had over a 75-point plus average margin of victory in its last three wins.
   On Tuesday Life Center Academy clobbered De LaSalle High, 107-23, at home in its Florence campus. Derrick Williams, LCA’s sophomore center, netted a team-high 23 points to lead the way. Junior guard Jonathan Perry also came up big for the Warriors with a 21-point effort. It was over early.
   Last Friday, LCA creamed a very good Emily Fisher Charter School, 100-43.
   The Warriors broke out to a 55-21 halftime lead and never looked back.
   Junior guard Dylan Talley led all scorers with 22 points. He even knocked down a pair of treys. Perry netted 13 points while senior guard R.J. Samuels, junior forward Khalil Murphy and Williams each tossed in a dozen points. Anthony Clayburn, a senior guard, poured in eight points while sophomore guard Chris Thompson collected six points. Junior guard Josh Bedu (four points), sophomore power forward Dan Pitter (four points), sophomore guard Elijah Carter (three-pointer), junior center Dera Nd-Ezuma (two points) and junior guard Matej Culjak (two points) also got on the scoreboard for the winning team.
   The Warriors most impressive victory of the week was their 135-49 triumph over Maritime Academy last Thursday at Florence. It didn’t matter who Rhoades put in the game because everyone was scoring.
   Twenty one of LCA’s 38 rebounds were offensive boards, which is quite a remarkable stat considering the Warriors shot 67 percent from two-point range.
   Williams made 13 of 18 shots and scored a team-high 27 points.
   Life Center Academy could do no wrong in the second quarter, out-scoring Maritime Academy, 38-7. With the Warriors leading 70-19 the contest was all but over by halftime.
   Eleven different players scored for LCA as Samuels (17 points), Talley (14 points), Carter (14 points), Murphy (13 points), Clayburn (12 points), Perry (10 points), Thompson (10 points), Pitter (10 points), Culjak (six points) and Bedu (two points) all got in on the act.
   The only place Life Center actually struggled was at the foul line where it made just 52 percent of its shots (13-for-25). Otherwise, it was nearly flawless.
   LCA (4-0) is scheduled at American Christian on Monday. It is scheduled to host Leap Academy on Monday. This year, Life Center Academy will take off a few days for Christmas but it will play several games over the Holiday break.