Grace women win big in 2022 debut

John Cate, The Sanford Herald, N.C.
·4 min read

Jan. 26—When top-ranked Grace Christian took to the court on Monday night, it marked the first time in 25 days that the Lady Crusaders had played a game. On the court, at least.

Since Grace pulled off a stunning last-second win over Hillside in the finals of the Champion Durham Classic two days before the end of 2021, the Lady Crusaders have picked up three additional wins. Unfortunately, all of them came as the result of other teams forfeiting games. Grace even broke the 20-win barrier on a walkover last Friday night.

So it was a welcome change when the South Wake Sabres actually showed up at Torgerson Gymnasium on Monday and Grace got to play something other than an intrasquad scrimmage. The Lady Crusaders showed a little bit of rust at times, but still blew out a solid Sabres team 71-35.

Indeed, this was no easy return for Grace, which improved to 21-1 on the season. South Wake, a homeschool team based in Fuquay-Varina, came in at 13-3 and with a MaxPreps power rating comparable to a top-10 2A public school. They schedule some of the top independent programs in the region and had been competitive in every game before Monday night.

The Lady Crusaders proved to be too much for them, however.

South Wake had to call a timeout just a little over two minutes into the game. The Lady Crusaders already had an 8-0 lead after Halisi Whitley and then Miyah Campbell had sunk back-to-back 3-pointers. But it didn't help. Seconds later, Lara Lieckfield went to the basket for an and-one layup and an 11-0 lead. The next time down, Sarah Strong got triple-teamed and dished to Lieckfield for two more and a 13-0 lead. Even when South Wake finally scored, Whitley responded by dialing long distance off the left wing. Before the quarter was over, Strong had hit a three of her own and the home team led 24-2 when it was done.

The Sabres were a better team than that, and they got untracked in the second quarter and began to put some points on the board, but the problem was that Grace wasn't letting up, either. The Lady Crusaders hit six more 3-pointers in the second quarter alone. South Wake seemed determined to keep Strong from dominating under the basket, but both she — and her teammates — have plenty of other ways to beat you.

Several times, Strong received an entry pass, let the Sabres' defense collapse on her, and then fired back out for an open three. Or she stepped outside and shot from behind the arc herself. In the second quarter, Danauje Brooks hit two threes, while Cidney Revelle, Campbell, Whitley and Strong all had one each. The Lady Crusaders romped to a 47-18 halftime lead.

The Sabres, who had hit four threes of their own in that quarter, put up 13 more points in the third. However, Grace kept pouring it on even though the team was subbing liberally. With so many no-show games of late, the team even suited up its top JV player, eighth-grader Ameya Brown, who leads the JV team with 23.8 points per game. Brown, who has played in a few other varsity games this season, scored Grace's last points of the night on a 3-pointer with 6:16 to play. It gave the Lady Crusaders a 71-31 lead and a running clock for the rest of the contest.

Strong led the team with 25 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. Brooks added 12 points, Whitley 11 and Lieckfield nine. Rounding out the scoring were Campbell with six, Brown and Revelle with three each and Janina Herisch with two. Campbell had five rebounds and Whitley six assists. Julia Hughes and Mia Jones had nine each for the Sabres, and Abbie George eight.

Grace, which is the 12th best team in the state according to MaxPreps, regardless of classification, still is seeking games for the stretch run thanks to all of the forfeits. The team will host NCISAA 4A fourth-ranked High Point Wesleyan (13-2) on Monday evening, and on Thursday, Feb. 4, the Lady Crusaders will host the NCISAA 1A second-ranked Victory Christian Center (13-8) of Charlotte, in what could be a preview of the state championship. The VCC game was just added this week. Similar to Grace, the Kings have had multiple scheduled teams forfeit to them.