A Pair of Wins for Grace Baptist Christian Academy Teams

The girls’ and boys’ basketball teams of Grace Baptist Christian Academy of Attleboro defeated Victory Baptist School of Londonderry, N.H., in non-league action Friday at The Sports Plex in Mansfield.

The Centurions pulled away in the fourth quarter to defeat the Crusaders, 40-28, in the girls’ game and rallied in the final period to post a 40-35 triumph in the boys’ contest. GBCA’s girls’ squad is now 3-2 this season while the boys’ quintet is 5-3.

In the girls’ game Friday, the Centurions snapped a 12-12 deadlock after one quarter to gain leads of 22-17 and 28-23 at the next two stops. Jamie Emerson poured in 24 points for the victors and Olivia Beals added 8 points.

“I thought our defense played very well, especially after the first quarter when we guarded Victory’s perimeter shoots more effectively,” said Pastor Jeffrey Nichols, GBCA’s coach. “We forced them into many turnovers and got our fast break attack going.”

In the boys’ contest, GBCA trailed at the first three stops by tallies of 8-6, 20-16 and 29-27 before pulling out the win with a 13-6 margin in the final session. Shaheem Shorey sparked the winners with 20 points.

“We played good defense, but our offense is still struggling,” Pastor Nichols said. “We got a lot of good shots today, but our shooting percentage was not good.”

In recent outings, GBCA’s boys’ squad zoomed past Twin City Christian School of Lunenburg, 61-43, in a Massachusetts Association of Christian Schools game. Connor McLernon paced the Centurions with 20 points, while Zachary Yoakum added 13 points and Shorey contributed eight.

During a 36-34 non-league loss to Steadfast Christian Academy of Groton, Conn., Yoakum netted 11 points, McLernon tallied 10 points and Shorey finished with eight. In a 58-44 non-league loss to Master’s Regional Academy of Smithfield, R.I., McLernon led GBCA with 10 points, Shorey ended with nine and A.J. Russell tossed in seven.

GBCA also outlasted Master’s Regional, 45-39, in another non-league outing thanks to 12 points from McLernon, 11 points by Shorey and eight points from Russell.