Augusta Christian topped Charlotte Christian 71-63 in a stand-alone game on the first day of the 21st annual Chick-fil-A Classic Basketball Tournament at River Bluff High School in Columbia. Junior DJ Shine scored 31 points to lead the Lions to their tenth straight victory.
Augusta Christian will face Charlotte Country Day Wednesday (5:30) in the final game for the Lions in the same prestigious tournament that over the past two decades has included 35 current NBA players.
The Steph Curry Connection
The most famous player who has participated in the Chick-fil-A Classic is none other than Steph Curry, the Golden State superstar who has single-handedly changed the sport with his unimaginable shooting range and ball handling skills. A decade before Curry won back-to-back NBA Most Valuable Player awards, the four-time NBA champion helped put the Chick-fil-A Classic on the map by leading his team to a tournament championship with wins over high school juggernauts St. Anthony’s (NJ) and Norcross (GA). The school that Curry led to the championship in 2005 was none other than Charlotte Christian, Augusta Christian’s opponent Tuesday.
Our Lions didn’t have to contend with a shooter like Curry, as Charlotte Christian made just one of sixteen three point attempts. But 6’5” sophomore John Lash did put on a performance to remember by scoring 50 of Charlotte Christian’s 63 points. Only Lash did all of his damage in the paint, scoring with both hands while using impressive footwork and also grabbing 14 rebounds, including seven on offense.
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But Lash was unable to single-handedly earn the win because of a much more balanced Augusta Christian attack. In addition to Shine’s 31 points, the Lions got 17 points from junior Khaleel Pratt, 13 from junior Braylen Smith and 8 from senior Luke Wilson. Wilson, a 6’10” center who has already signed with Georgia Southern, also blocked 11 shots. And Pratt grabbed a team high 14 rebounds.
Lash and Shine Dueled
After Shine scored the first 7 points of the game, Charlotte Christian scored 14 unanswered points and eventually took a 16-11 lead at the end of the first quarter when Lash scored right before the buzzer.
Lash converted a three point play 27 seconds into the second quarter to give Charlotte Christian what ended up being its largest lead of the game at 19-11. Shine dueled with Lash throughout the first half, and Augusta Christian was able to even the score at 31 at intermission.
Lash scored 27 of Charlotte Christian’s 31 points in the first half, and Shine did his best to keep up by scoring 18 himself. In the second quarter, Pratt scored five and Wilson added four as the Lions clawed their way back to even.
Augusta Christian took a brief six-point lead during the third quarter. But the Lions only took a one-point advantage into the final period as Lash and Shine continued to pile up the points, with Lash carding 35 and Shine 24 through three quarters.
Then Braylen Smith scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to give Augusta Christian a 52-44 advantage with 6:00 minutes remaining. Smith made a three pointer from the right wing on an assist by Pratt. Then Shine assisted Smith for a layup in transition before Smith completed the spurt with a slicing open court drive that he finished with his left hand after avoiding a charge with impressive body control.
Charlotte Christian never completely went away after that as Lash posted 15 more points to get to 50 by the end of the game. But Augusta Christian’s lead didn’t shrink to fewer than four points in the final six minutes. The Lions made an impressive 18 of 21 free throw attempts for the game.
Breaking Down the Winning Streak
Augusta Christian’s ten-game winning streak began at home on December 6 when the Lions roared back from an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat the defending GHSA Class 2A state champion Westside 83-79.
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The returning South Carolina Independent School Association (SCISA) state champion Lions then took to the road for their next nine victories. First came two wins in Sumter, South Carolina in Wilson Hall’s Baron Classic. Then the Lions traveled to Atlanta on Friday, December 16 to defeat No. 2 ranked King’s Ridge Christian (GHSA Class 1A) 73-71 in overtime thanks to a buzzer beater by junior Chas Beasley.
The next day (Saturday, December 17) the team blew out Westwood at “The Bash” at Ridge View High School in Columbia.
Off to Vegas
Twenty-four hours later (and this is not a misprint) the Lions flew to Las Vegas for the four-game Tarkanian Classic, which the Lions won thanks to another buzzer beater, this time by Braylen Smith in the championship game of the “Baller TV” division.
After a three-day break for Christmas and then yesterday’s win, the Lions (14-3) will try to make it eleven straight victories today in their final Chick-fil-A Classic game before prepping for only their third home game of the season next Tuesday against Fox Creek.
Follow Chad Cook’s coverage of local sports on Facebook, and Instagram at @AugustaPressSports, and on Twitter at @AugPressSports
