Shannon Forest Middle School Boys Round Out Season with Huge Win Over Hurricanes!

          February 6, 2012 - The Shannon Forest Christian School (SFCS) Middle School Boys' Basketball team finished up the regular season on Friday, February 3, when they welcomed perhaps their toughest opponent of the season, the Greenville Hurricanes. This was the first time the two squared off after having just a glimpse of one another at the Shannon Shoot-Out. The Hurricanes came out raining 3's as they stormed ahead early in the 1st quarter. They continued to demonstrate remarkable outside shooting ability for the remainder of the half while the Crusaders struggled to find their rhythm. The slow start for the Crusaders led to a 14 point halftime Shannon Forest deficit. The scrappy Crusaders showed heart in the 2nd half and they clawed their way back in the game to outscore the Hurricanes by 7 in the 3rd. Graham Etheridge got hot with 9 3rd quarter points, jump-starting what would become the biggest comeback of the season for SFCS. After trailing 28-14 at the half, Shannon Forest found themselves with a chance to steal their first lead with less than 3 minutes remaining in the game. 8th Grade player Warner Watkins came up with several huge plays to give the Crusaders the go ahead basket. They eventually went on to win. Etheridge led the team with 14 while Watkins added 12 for Shannon.
          Earlier in the week the Crusaders faced Southside Christian. This quickly became a shoot-out as both teams seemed to have no trouble scoring throughout the game. Southsides' shot-making ability enabled them to gradually build a lead and the Crusaders were never able to get over the hump. Once again, our boys displayed great effort in the battle, but the overall size and strength of the Sabers was too much. Etheridge led the way with 13 points in the losing effort (47-39) while Stephen Glenn and Will Maddox added 9 each. The Crusaders will need all of the support they can get as they play host to Langston Charter in the first round of the CMSC Conference tournament on Tuesday, February 7.