Thanks in part to a 34-point night from senior Jason Leek, the Heritage Christian Academy Warriors are now on a three-game winning streak. The Warriors got the big night from Leek and strong play from Sam Thompson and Noah Arvin as HCA took down the Fort Campbell Falcons 68-57.
Since joining the KHSAA, Heritage Christian is now 6-0 against the Falcons.
The Warriors defense came ready to play from the start. HCA held the Falcons without a field goal in the opening quarter as they jumped out to a 15-3 lead after one.
Fort Campbell did a decent job on Jason Leek in the quarter, not allowing the state’s leading scorer a point until a steal and layup with 2:30 to go in the opening quarter.
Heritage got a big lift from the inside play of Sam Thompson and Noah Arvin, who went to battle on the boards and combined to score six first quarter points.
The Falcons got their first field goal of the night on a basket from Israel Dillard with 7:45 to go in the half that made it 15-5. But the Falcons continued to have trouble getting shots to fall and could not get a run started to get back in the game.
Carried by the play of Arvin and Thompson inside, the Warriors continued to hold the Falcons at bay for the rest of the half. Heritage Christian would head into the half holding a 30-19 lead.
One problem the Warriors were facing at the break was serious foul trouble. Noah Arvin and Sam Thompson had three fouls each and Cooper Kirkman with 2.
Neither team shot well in the half. The Warriors were 12 of 33 while the Falcons ended up 6 of 30.
The pace of play kicked into another gear as the third quarter got started. HCA’s Jason Leek and Fort Campbell’s Jamile Wilson each scored 7 points in the opening moments of the quarter. The Falcons got as close as 7 points early in the third.
Leek then began to assert himself for the Warriors. The senior started attacking the basket and finding scoring lanes as the Warriors fought to keep the Falcons on the lower end of the score.
After being limited to just one field goal and four points in the first half, Tyreek Anthony got warmed up for Fort Campbell. But, even with 9 points from Anthony and Wilson in the third, the Falcons still found themselves down 49-40 going into the fourth quarter.
A big reason for that was the 16 points scored in the third by Jason Leek for HCA.
Any Fort Campbell hopes for a comeback rally took a dash early in the final quarter Tyreek Anthony went down with an injured ankle and did not return. The Warriors got the lead back out to double digits not long after that. HCA would lead by as many as 18 before Coach Matt McGowan pulled his starters late in the final quarter.
In addition to the 34 points from Jason Leek, HCA got a big 10 points from Sam Thompson, who was also a force on the boards for the Warriors. Ethan Miles knocked down a pair of threes and had 8 points.
For the Falcons, Israel Dillard led the way with 22 points, 15 of them in the final quarter. Jamile Wilson added 15 points. Tyreek Anthony hit for 13 points before suffering the injury at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Heritage Christian (9-16) goes on the road Tuesday to take on Whitesville Trinity.
Fort Campbell (3-20) is scheduled to host Community Christian Thursday night.
