This Friday Lake Norman Christian (Harrisburg, NC) took the hour ride up I85 to Winston Salem for a closed scrimmage against Quality Education Academy.
How this was set up was they played six, eight-minute quarters. Both teams played a lot of players and worked on different sets, defenses and the such. Absolute Basketball was able to gain access to the closed scrimmage and take in all the action.
Here are our Five Takeaways…
Green Led the Way
But Joyful Hawkins, Jonathan Kurtas and AJ Allenspach all answered the call at times in this one. With Mikey Williams sitting this one out, nursing a lower body tweak, it was interesting to see who would step up. Make no mistake, success circled around 6’0” 2023 Trey Green. The compact and athletic guard got where he wanted off the bounce and made plays once he got to his spots.
The table is set for Green to have a big season. He seems to always plays his best when the lights are the brightest, and the table is set for the lights to be bright a lot.
King Could be Next
Always looking ahead, always trying to find what is next and who is next in line. Well, 6’5” 2024 Iverson King of Winston Salem, NC/Quality Education Academy could have a lot to say about the future of North Carolina basketball. The wing has great size and a lot of pop in his step. He showcased the ability to break down off the bounce. He finished this game with 13 points on 6-12 shooting and three blocked shots
Only a freshman, look for King to call next by taking ahold of this opportunity now.
Haggarty Can be an X-Factor
When 6’5” 2022 JP Haggarty announced his transfer to Lake Norman Christian earlier this summer, it went without much notice. Even with Haggarty averaging 18 points and 9 rebounds last year on 39% shooting. So as this season starts, Haggarty is the first player to come off the bench.
What does Haggarty bring to the team? Well it starts with his shooting. He has size and length to go with toughness and IQ. As his confidence continues to grow so will his outputs. His level of recruitment will all depend on him, he has enough talent and (as we have stated before) he has the stage.
Bolden and Mills and Talented
Many times, teams are only as good as their backcourt and Quality Education has a talented pairing. 6’3” 2021 TJ Mills and 6’2” 2022 Omari Bolden are both new to the school, and new to one another. Individually they can both handle, shoot and pass. Bolden finished with game with 26 points and Mills had 13.
There is a lot of talent there, and just like anything, give them time to gel together. Coach Andre Gould will have them right in no time.
The Future is Bright
Trey Green and Iverson King were not the only underclassmen to make an impression in this game. Be sure to keep your eyes out for…
6’9” 2023 Riley Allenspach (Lake Norman Christian)
6’9” 2024 Bobby Collins (Quality Education)
