RALEIGH – Fans wait in mile-long lines for tickets, then feverishly fill every seat for every game, from morning to night. And it’s like this every single year.
The 53rd annual John Wall Holiday Invitational hasn’t lost any luster. And in kind, Christ School basketball again proved to be worthy of the stage Friday and Saturday at Broughton High School, winning a bracket championship for the second consecutive year.
Trevor Manhertz ’27 led three Greenies in double figures with 20 points (including five 3-pointers). Kingston Whitty ’26 (18 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists) earned MVP honors for Saturday's finals of the Rudy Watson bracket, a 74-50 win over coastal North Carolina public school Washington.
Dacen Petty ’26 (10 points and three assists) and Micah Goodlow ’28 (eight points and five assists) gave Christ School more effective backcourt play in a game that the team led 24-9 at the end of the first quarter.
"Trevor got things rolling early for us, and then it was kind of a domino effect," Coach Erasto Hatchett said.
"The guys really executed the gameplan. We were able to work it inside and out and be intentional. To be honest, I feel really good about (the tournament) for us. We anticipated a rough start after giving the guys 6-7 days off and knew that it would be a challenge. To see them dig in and fight through adversity was a sign of character to be sure."
The Greenies (10-3) are now 6-1 the past three years at the John Wall Holiday Invitational, which is considered the preeminent Christmas tournament in North Carolina high school basketball. Look no further than Christ School’s bracket for evidence. Saturday’s opponent, nicknamed the Pam Pack (8-2), had ended North Carolina's longest active winning streak (63 games) the night before with a victory over two-time defending public school state champion Reidsville.
Washington was unexpectedly without its second-leading scorer, Chaise Smith (23.1 ppg.), due to a health issue. It probably wouldn’t have mattered with the buzzsaw the Pam Pack ran into Saturday.
Trevor scored the first seven points of the game for Christ School, and a short jumper by Dacen midway through the opening quarter provided a double-digit lead for good. The rest of the Greenies scorers were William Robinson '26 (six), Hudson Hatch '28 (five), Koen Booker '27 (three), Skyler Ellis '27 (two), and Tyler Jones '26 (two).
Duke University coach Jon Scheyer was among the spectators in attendance.
Greenies players and coaches gave up a portion of their Christmas for the tournament, as they departed for Raleigh at midday on December 25. Christ School’s next game is January 6 at home against Carolina Day. Two days later, the Greenies travel to Asheville School.