Sometimes there can be just a bit too much adversity to overcome on the basketball court. The Heritage Christian Academy Warriors may have run into just that scenario Tuesday night.
The Warriors entered the night already without top rebounder Layton Giltner, who suffered a concussion and a facial injury during Saturday’s game at McLean County.
Then, coming out of the locker room at halftime, sophomore Caden Gresham suffered a medical issue and was transported from the gym, delaying the start of the second half. The good news of the night was that Gresham was alert as he was being taken to the hospital.
And to pile on the adversity, as the Warriors were attempting to come back in the 4th quarter, leading scorer Jason Leek fouled out of the game with nearly four minutes left.
While the Warriors fought on and gave everything they had, all of it added up may have been just a bit much to fight their way through as Whitesville Trinity rallied from a 16-point halftime deficit to take a 77-65 win.
Both teams came out ready to roll in the opening quarter. Hayden Aull scored 14 points in the first eight minutes of the contest as the Raiders took a 21-18 lead after the first.
In the second quarter, it was Jason Leek’s turn to light it up. Leek scored 14 in the second quarter, giving him 20 for the first half as the Warriors put 28 points on the board and took a 46-34 lead into the break. HCA led by as many as 16 points in the quarter.
As the teams began to return to the floor for the warmups prior to the start of the second half, HCA’s Caden Gresham experienced the medical issue, delaying the start of the second half for an extended period of time. After Gresham was transported from the school, the decision was made to finish playing the game. But as the third quarter got started, it was obvious that the situation had impacted the players on the floor for the Warriors.
Trinity knocked down six threes in the third and outscored the Warriors 33 to 12 to come back and take a 67-58 lead.
Heritage would get as close as five points, but after Leek fouled out, the Warriors struggled to find enough offense to complete the rally as the Raiders were able to pull things back out to the final 12-point margin.
Jason Leek scored 31 points before fouling out. Bradley Boyd also hit double figures on his senior night with 13. Landen Wells finished the game with 9 points.
For Whitesville Trinity, Hayden Aull led the way with 25 points, including seven made 3-pointers. Conner Hatfield added 17 points for the Raiders.
The loss drops HCA to 13-13 for the season. The Warriors are set to be back in action Thursday as they host PACHEK.
HCA — 18 28 12 7 – 65
WTHS — 21 13 33 10 – 77
Whitesville Trinity – Aull 25, Hatfield 17, Hernandez 10, Boarman 8, J. Howard 8, Payne 5, Roby 2, G. Howard 2
Heritage Christian – Leek 31, Boyd 13, Wells 9, Bolinger 6, Higgins 5, Westerfield 1
Heritage Christian vs Whitesville Trinity
