After cruising to a blowout victory over Valor Christian in the season opener, the Heritage Christian Academy boys’ basketball team found things more difficult south of the border on Tuesday night.
Hosts Clarksville Christian School got 34 points from Michael Lawton, taking a double-digit lead in the 1st half and holding off Carlos Robles and the Warriors on the way to a 64-56 victory.
HCA jumped out to an 8-3 advantage early, but the Centurions answered with an 8-0 spurt capped by a Lawton 3-pointer to move in front. Robles scored 6 in the opening frame, including a bucket down low to cut the lead to one, but the Warriors trailed 16-12 going to the 2nd quarter.
After eight-straight points by Lawton, Trenton Hayes scored in the paint for HCA to pull within five at 24-19. However, Clarksville Christian ripped off a 10-1 run for a double-digit lead.
The Warriors scored six straight on a pair of buckets by Robles and one by Triston Folz, before Lawton knocked down two free throws for the last points of the half to give the Centurions a 14-point lead at the break.
The Warriors climbed back into it in the 3rd quarter, with Jason Leek scoring five straight points to cut the margin to seven. Robles scored on consecutive trips to trim the deficit to three and then forced a five-second call to give HCA the final possession of the quarter. The Warriors got two good looks but couldn’t get it to go down and trailed 48-45 with a quarter to play.
HCA only managed three points over the first four minutes and Lawton scored six of his 10 4th-quarter points to put the Centurions in front 56-48. The teams traded baskets over the remainder of the game and the Warriors didn’t get any closer than seven.
Lawton’s big night led all scorers, with Robles dropping 18 to lead HCA. Powell finished with 11, Leek scored 10, and Hayes added eight.
