DAVIDSON, N.C. – It must be said: There are levels to this.
The quizzical lack of respect for North Carolina’s only Nike EYBL team and a three-time state champion in the largest NCISAA classification was compounded by the fact that Christ School varsity basketball beat the same opponent by 20 points last winter.
Still somehow the consensus among pollsters and pundits was that the Greenies were an underdog Saturday night.
Dacen Petty ’26, in particular, was not having any of that.
With 31 more points and a half-dozen 3-pointers, Dacen bookended one of the best weekends that a Christ School guard has ever had. Point guard and West Virginia recruit Kingston Whitty ’26 complemented him with 18 points, and the Greenies overcome Davidson Day’s homecourt advantage and size advantage – the Patriots’ front line stood 6-10, 6-10, and 6-11.
Other than the first basket of the game, Christ School led wire-to-wire for a 69-62 road win in the Phenom Hoops Tipoff.
“I’m happy with how we competed,” Coach Erasto Hatchett said.
“Tonight really gave us a glimpse into the kind of competition and size we’re going to see down the road, and we executed. A win like this is going to give us confidence, it bodes well for the future.”
The rest of Saturday night’s scorers for the undefeated Greenies (4-0) were University of Albany recruit Tyler Jones ’26 (eight points), Skyler Ellis ‘27 (seven), Micah Goodlow ‘28 (two), Will Robinson ’26 (two), and Koen Booker ‘27 (one).
Christ School led 24-20 at the end of the first quarter, 38-34 at halftime, and 56-50 to start the fourth quarter. Due to injuries, the Greenies were again without two players who began the season as starters – juniors Trevor Manhertz ’27 and Dylan Twitty ’27.