BY JESSICA GIBBS/CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Jessica.gibbs@live.longwood.edu

COURTLAND—The Southampton Academy boys’ basketball team beat Alliance Christian School 80-60 during The Raider Christmas Classic Tournament Tuesday night.

Southampton Academy will play Banner Christian at 7 p.m. today, Dec. 29, for the tournament title.

Southampton Academy started off strong with Austin Foster landing the first 3 points on the board for the Raiders. The scoring remained consistent with SA holding onto a 21-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

By the half, SA was ahead 36-28. The Raiders extended their lead to 59-42 at the end of the third quarter.

Coach David Gibbs said they were “fortunate for the win,” especially since Alliance Christian had two new players, who proved to be a challenge for the Raiders.

“We made shots, but we were not as energetic on defense,” Gibbs said. “(ACS had) way too many shots from the 10-foot-in range.”

Raider Garrett Smith led with 18 points. Blake Drewry added 14, and Rashodd Maxey scored 12 points.

The leading scorer for the Falcons was Courtney Coles with a game-high 23.

During the first half, the Raiders struggled with ball movement, but after making adjustments at halftime, they did a much better job with team movement, Gibbs said.

“Our major aspect that we need to work on is eliminating guard penetration, along with improving our defense and working on rebounds on both ends of the court,” he said.

SA is 2-3 for the season, which Gibbs said he is very happy about.

“We have made strides in the right direction,” he said.