Covenant stays cool in victory

Behind strong defense, Covenant survived a third-quarter surge to preserve a 73-61 win over North Cross Tuesday night.

The Eagles led throughout the first half, as early foul trouble forced North Cross star A.D. Banks to sit much of the half. The junior returned to the floor after halftime and led the way as the Raiders charged back, scoring 21 points in the third, nearly total their entire first half score.

“They made a nice comeback when Sam [Dale] went out,” Eagles coach Ben D’Alessandro said. “We had some breakdowns defensively, consecutive breakdowns. They scored on seven straight trips, which is very unlike us to allow that to happen.”

North Cross was able to pull within two points as the third quarter expired. The Raiders’ comeback stalled, however, as Banks committed back-to-back fouls to end his night with 15 points.

“A.D. Banks is a phenomenal player,” Dale said. “He’s very athletic, he can jump. That was our goal right from the start to get him in foul trouble and just punish him. It worked out.”

After Banks’ departure, the Eagles’ slammed the door as their offense exploded with strong perimeter shooting to secure the win. Covenant’s balanced offensive attack included four players in double figures (18 for Dale, 15 for Brian Clarry, 11 for Kodie Critzer and 10 for Nathan Hyde). D’Alessandro said he was proud of the way his team focused on their own game at a critical juncture.

“We don’t focus on 49-47, we just try to stay in the moment as best we can and let the chips fall where they may,” he said. “We were just playing better. We kind of righted the ship and we collected ourselves. I think I called a time out. We rallied and we stuck together. It was a total team effort.”

A physical battle from the opening tip, the Eagles’ win featured three technical fouls on North Cross. Dale took a hard hit to the head, which caused him to miss time in the third quarter.

“Everything was a little bit flustered on both ends,” Dale said. “Some people lost their cool. I think our team was more poised, offensively and defensively. We had much more energy and enthusiasm then they did which I think led to success for us.”

D’Alessandro highlighted the importance of blocking out distractions for his team in such a physical game.

“We know that for us to be successful, meaning for us to play at our best, we’ve got to block out all the distractions,” he said. “…I’m really not aware that much about what was going on. When a team is down they get frustrated. We tried to keep changing things on them. We were very aggressive and created a lot of turnovers.”

The Eagles will look to remain in the win column Saturday as they travel to Waynesboro to take on Fishburne Military Academy in a 2:30 p.m. contest.