With two scrimmages under its belt before the 2024-25 basketball season starts, Heritage Christian Academy knows there is still work to be done before its Dec. 3 opener.
The Warriors closed out the preseason schedule with a 73-54 loss to former KCAA foe Bethel Christian Academy on Friday at Warrior Gym.
HCA began well enough, trailing 18-17 after one quarter, but Bethel outscored them 16-9 in the second quarter and 18-7 in the third frame.
Junior Isaiah Poteet scored 13 of his 29 points in the opening quarter for the Flames and knocked down three of their five 3-pointers.
Jason Leek had another strong showing for the Warriors. A week after scoring 48 points in a scrimmage, the senior guard added 38 more on Friday including 17 in the final quarter. He had five 3-pointers.
“I was happy when certain players showed certain things. On the offensive end, they showed me some options that I think we’re going to have this year,” HCA coach Matt McGowan said. “The one thing that I really wasn’t satisfied with was our defensive effort and awareness. We are lost too much on defense and a lot of that’s coming from players that just need more playing time.
McGowan also expects more from a trait that doesn’t come from coaching.
“We’ve also got to give more effort and one of my main messages to them was to play so hard that you don’t have time to be nervous and we didn’t really see that tonight. I think we’ll get there if they’ll keep working.”
Nathan Wheatcraft joined Leek in double figures with 10 points. Ethan Miles added four points and Samuel Thompson added two points as only four Warriors made their way to the scoring column.
“We need our players to step into those roles and grab ahold of the opportunity with the minutes that they’re going to get,” McGowan said. “They were in the right spots tonight. We got several wide-open looks from the corners but we have guys that second-guessed themselves and quite honestly guys that haven’t put reps in to hit those shots in games so we need to get the reps up we need to be more confident.”
Heritage Christian Academy will open on the road at Webster County on December 3. They will then compete in the Kentucky Christian Athletic Conference Tournament the following weekend in Radcliff.
“I just want to see a competitive nature and desire for our guys to get better. We’re not expecting it to be easy sailing but we want to get better every time we have an opportunity to go out and play,” McGowan said.
