Phenom Hoops tuned in Tuesday night to watch Burlington Christian Academy and Shining Light Academy battle it out. Two teams that bring scoring power dueled it out on the court in a fast-paced, up and down battle early on, with Burlington Christian Academy holding the narrow 24-19 lead after the first quarter.
Burlington Christian Academy turned it up a notch on the defensive end, creating steals and turnovers and capitalizing in transition. But Shining Light, led by Will Rhodes, continued to stay within striking distance, as both teams looked to get up and down and play fast paced. Burlington Christian Academy though led 46-34 at halftime.
Shining Light came out strong to cut the lead early but Burlington Christian answered right back and continued to find success out in transition, eventually increasing their lead to as many as 20 points in the third and never looking back from then on.
Burlington Christian Academy took home the 83-65 victory and improved to 8-1 on the season.
Standouts:
2021 Brock Williams (Burlington Christian Academy): Now back at Burlington Christian, Williams was getting back to what we saw year’s ago when he was the top scorer in the state. He showed tremendous ability at GDS but is now the go-to leader for this squad. But when you watch him operate on the court, Williams continued to play his game. He excels with the ball in his hands, being able to create off the dribble, attack defenses, and find ways to score and play strong at the rim. His quickness couldn’t be stopped and his ability to create havoc on the defense, pick the pockets of opponents without fouling, and have his defense turn into offense is tough. He finished the night leading the way with 29 points.
2022 Will Rhodes (Shining Light Academy): Rhodes caught the eye of our scouts, especially with his ability to penetrate and get to the lane consistently. He plays with patience but picks his spot to attack with his dribble, get into the lane all throughout the game, and find ways to get the ball on the rim and score. He is averaging 28 points per game and continued to show that he knack of getting the ball through the basket.
2023 Josiah Watkins (Burlington Christian Academy): The sophomore prospect is going to be one to watch. We watched him earlier in 2020 at the NC Phenom 150, where we had this to say about his game. “He’s a young, skilled guard prospect with a tight handle, sharp penetration sense, and quality defensive instincts. Watkins provides great effort and positions himself quite well on defense, which allows him to force numerous turnovers and push transition play.” Watkins did exactly that on the court vs. Shining Light, getting downhill and scoring in transition, creating a defensive presence with his length, and was incredibly active on both ends on his way to 19 points.