Prep boys beat Alleluia 59-53

Senior Night at Augusta Preparatory Day School came Tuesday with a pair of boys and girls varsity games against Alleluia Community School.

It also came with a career night for one Cavalier senior.

Forward Trey Minor, one of five seniors on the Augusta Prep boys basketball team, scored 17 points and nailed three 3-pointers en route to a 59-53 Cavalier win.

"I didn't expect it to be like this," Minor said. "This is one of the best games I've ever played."

The 17 points didn't seem all that necessary after the Cavaliers took a 15-3 lead heading into the second quarter. However, Alleluia climbed back into the game with a 14-0 run just before the half ended. Augusta Prep's A.J. Sethi ended the run with a score off a rebound with four seconds left in the second quarter, but the damage was done, and the Cavaliers limped into halftime with only a three-point lead.

"They hustle and they're very disciplined," Augusta Prep coach Mike Guthrie said of Alleluia. "They play well together."

The Angels completed their comeback in the second half and the game saw six lead changes in the final three minutes of the third quarter.

A Minor 3-pointer with 27 seconds left in the third quarter gave Augusta Prep a 41-39 lead. The Angels tied the game once more in the fourth quarter, but Cavalier freshman Jim Hull scored two of his game-high 19 points with 5:41 to go in the game and gave Augusta Prep the lead for good.

"He's got a great jump shot and can go to the basket," Guthrie said of the freshman. "I'm glad he'll be here another three years."

While Minor and Hull sparked the Cavalier's offense, leading scorer Michael Crosland was held to only two points on the night. Guthrie said the reason for his top guard's lack of offense was a simple matter of sticking to the game plan.

"Michael's assignment tonight was to stop Joe Veihman, and he did an outstanding job," Guthrie said. "When you're focused on defense you don't always get the chance to score on offense."

Crosland limited Veihman to only three first-half points. Veihman did lead Alleluia with 14 points for the game, but the total was well under his average of more than 20 points per contest.

The Cavaliers enter the postseason in the middle of the GISA 4-AAA region standings and will travel to George Walton for the first round of the region tournament Thursday at 5:30 p.m.

In the girls game, the Lady Cavaliers couldn't put a stop to a career night for Alleluia's Chrisja Ceyssens. In the second quarter, the senior scored her 1,000th career point and then went on to score 23 points including the game-winning shot to lift Alleluia over Augusta Prep 44-42. Lady Cavaliers Mary Beth Horton and Monica Ploetzke each totaled 10 points in the loss.