QEA falls at hoops showcase
(pictured above: QEA Point Guard DeAngelo Bruster in action.) (Photo by Charles Leftwich Jr.)
Quality Education Academy earned a split at the Phenom Hoops National High School Showcase played at Forsyth Country Day last weekend. The Pharaohs opened with an 81-57 victory over Genesis Academy (Va.), and then suffered a gut-wrenching 65-59 defeat to St. Louis Christian (Mo.) the next day.
This year’s showcase featured 20 of the top teams in the region and the nation. Three of the teams – Oak Hill Academy (Va.), Huntington Prep (WVa.) and Northside Christian (NC) – played in the Dick’s Sporting Goods National High School Championships last April.
Purvis
In the opener, QEA trailed at the half, but went on a 26-7 spurt in the third quarter to seize control of the game. At the start of the second half, the Pharaohs caused four turnovers and took a 36-34 lead on a mid-range jumper by Marsellis Purvis. For the remainder of the third quarter, QEA outscored the opposition 17-5 to put the game away. Pressure defense set the tone for the comeback. For the game, the Pharaohs forced 22 turnovers.
Love
Purvis finished with a game-high 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the way for QEA. Jerron Love contributed 16 points and DeAngelo Bruster added 15 points, seven boards and three steals.
Genesis pushed its first-half lead to double digits (32-29) with 2:59 to go. For most of the half Genesis took advantage of the foul situation and scored 17 of its points from the free-throw line.
Even so, the Pharaohs were still able to close the gap quickly. Brandon Gulley of Genesis was called for a technical foul when he hung on the rim after missing a dunk. Love converted a pair of free throws and DeShawn Corprew drilled a high-arcing 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim the deficit to 32-27.
“Playing solid pressure defense helped us to get our offense going,” said Purvis. “In the first half, we kept fouling and that put them on the line. We came out in the second half and did a better job defensively of moving our feet instead of using our hands.”
Josh Hall was the top producer for Genesis with 13 points and 11 rebounds and Greg Williams finished with 12 points. Billy Thomas added 10 points and Jahnathan Maxwell had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Against St. Louis, the Pharaohs (2-2) had to play catch-up for most of the fourth quarter. With about 1:50 left to play, Anthony Pratt hit a couple of free throws to give the Cougars what appeared to be a comfortable lead at 61-55. But QEA answered with a 3-pointer by Derrick Farquaharson to cut the lead to three with 1:23 remaining.
Farquaharson was fouled on a put-back attempt, but was taken out of the game after being hit in the head. As the substitute free-throw shooter, Love hit one of two foul shots to cut the St. Louis lead to 61-59.
The Cougars secured the victory in the final seconds as Nickeil Walker hit four free throws to account for the final points of the game.
Corprew led QEA’s offense with a team-high 15 points and Bruster finished with 11 points and two assists. For St. Louis, Pratt led all scorers with 25 points and Nathan Bethel chipped in with 19.
“It’s still early in the season and we’re still learning each other,” said Purvis. “We’re doing a better job of playing together and not being selfish. When we swing the ball, we get better shots.”
