Phenom Hoops kicked off the season in a big way with the Carmel Christian Tip-Off Classic, bringing in some of the premier talent and teams from around the region under one building in Charlotte.
The day rolled on, as a highly-anticipated matchup between Moravian Prep and Winston Salem Christian was up next here in Charlotte. Two teams that are familiar with each other, this one was going to be fun to watch between these two programs. Moravian Prep came out strong, knocking down shots early but Winston Salem Christian answered back to cut a 17-9 deficit down at the end of the first to eventually taking the lead in the second quarter. But Eli Ellis had his own run to give Moravian Prep back the lead and to take the 35-33 halftime lead. Isaiah Washington and Quante Berry led the charge with a combined 18 points in the first half, while Eli Ellis had 19 first-half points for Moravian.
The second half got underway and the energy on the court and in the building didn’t let up, as it was an early back and forth affair. Eli continued to showcase his array of offensive shots, continuing to score the ball effectively while Lewis Walker started to step up and score the ball down low. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the three-point shooting from Moravian Prep started to create a little separation late but nothing was set in stone yet. Ryan Roberts hit some big shots as well as Isaac Ellis for Moravian.
It was just enough in the end for Moravian Prep to earn a hard-fought, tough win in Charlotte 82-77.
Final: Moravian Prep 82 – Winston Salem Christian 77
Stats:
Moravian Prep: Eli Ellis 31 points/ Isaac Ellis 12/ Ryan Roberts 11/ Mayar Wol 7
Winston Salem: Isaiah Washington 17 points/ Lewis Walker 16/ Camian Shell 14/ Rasean McMiller 12