CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Despite having suffered an 11-point loss at Greater Beckley Christian only two weeks ago, Charleston Catholic head coach Hunter Moles had a good feeling about Tuesday’s rematch at the CCHS Athletic Complex.
“I knew we were going to come out focused and locked in when I walked into the locker room. The guys had that tone and I could tell they were ready,” Moles said. “They knew it was a big game for us.”
Turns out, Moles knew best, as the Irish started fast to lead throughout in a 64-50 win.
With the victory, Charleston Catholic improved to 11-4, while GBC fell to 13-4.
Catholic jumped out to a 10-2 lead 4:03 into the action, capitalizing on six early points from Zion Suddeth and an Aiden Satterfield dunk for the early advantage.
Satterfield added two three-pointers in the quarter to send the Irish into the second on top, 17-9.
“The start was bad and throughout the game we had chances to make plays, but they did a great job of stopping us from doing that,” GBC head coach Brian Helton said.
The Irish picked up where they left off, starting the second quarter with an identical 10-2 surge for a 27-11 lead 5:15 before halftime. Thomas Blaydes made two triples during a run that allowed the Irish to double their advantage.
The Crusaders reeled off the next five points to close to within 11, and faced a 34-22 deficit late in the half before Ferris Murad beat the buzzer with a three to give the Irish a 15-point edge at the intermission.
“We want to have active hands and force hard, contested shots. We want to make it tough on them and the first game, we didn’t do that,” Moles said. “They got some easy ones that got them going a little bit. Tonight, we didn’t let them get in a rhythm.”
GBC had 15 of its 22 turnovers in the opening half. In turn, the Crusaders had only 15 field-goal attempts at the break.
“A lack of execution and not being mentally tough and concentrating,” Helton said. “We came out flat and didn’t really understand you have to execute in order to be successful against teams as good as Charleston Catholic.”
GBC got to within 39-29 after Isaiah Hariston scored in the post, but Satterfield answered by connecting from behind the arc for a third time.
The Crusaders trailed by 10 once more at 50-40 following five straight points from Sean Hoskins, but Marshall Pile made 5-of-6 free throws to help stretch the lead back to 55-42 a minute later.
Satterfield led all players with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
“It’s scary,” Moles said. “He hasn’t scratched the surface at all.”
Suddeth, who made 5-of-10 from the floor, scored 18 points. Blaydes hit for nine on a trio of threes.
Hairston led the Crusaders with 10 points and Elijah Edwards scored nine in the loss.