Cristo Rey vs Penn Charter Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I had to head “down Norf” to Cristo Rey to watch their late-season non-league game against the PC Quakers and it was well worth it. Cristo Rey got the win, 60-57. So to recap, here are a handful of standouts:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Cristo Rey</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1460808' first='Nigel' last='Adamson'] | 6'7 F/C 2026&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Adamson's matchup with Gilhool was one of the keys to the game and he fared well. He went at the Quaker big man and forced him into early foul trouble. Hampered by fouls of his own, Adamson didn't play heavy minutes until the fourth quarter, but that's when he played his best. He limited deep paint touches and protected the rim, which didn't show up in the stat sheet but was crucial. And, lastly, he was strong and efficient with his footwork around the basket, offensively, finishing with a hard-fought 11 points and 6 boards.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1173983' first='Amari' last='Dow'] | 6'2 G 2024</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Dow is Mr. Reliable for the Rey. After the team scored just 8 points and was down 6 in the first quarter, Dow gave them 7. He cashed a spot-up three, jump-stopped into a defender for a tough layup, and got a dunk on a baseline out of bounds (BLOB) to double CR's output and end the half, down just 3. The unsigned senior continued to make winning plays in the second half - offensive rebounds, forcing turnovers, and making timely shots as he totalled 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1187931' first='Devin' last='Booker'] | 6'4 G/W 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On a night when he was honored pre-game for eclipsing 1000 career points, Booker didn't rest on his accomplishment. He got on the scoreboard immediately with a rip-through from the left corner, driving baseline for an emphatic dunk. His game was even louder in the second half thanks to his jumper. With the game on the line, 36 seconds left, Booker flushed his fourth triple to take the lead (58-57) after being down since the first quarter. What would be the game-winning basket pushed him 22 points, in addition to 5 rebounds, 1 steal, and a block.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2024 Josh Patterson and 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='1477746' first='Amir' last='Nelson'] made key contributions too.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Penn Charter</strong> </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='991423' first='Jamal' last='Hicks Jr'] | 6'1 G 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>His shots weren't falling from beyond the arc, so Hicks made it a point to get to the cup. From then on, everything that the high octane guard got was a result of him driving. After grabbing defensive boards, Hicks took the ball coast-to-coast for transition buckets. Even more significant, his determination to get downhill sent him to the line, where he shot 9-for-10, totaling a team-high 17 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='2235863' first='Matt' last='Gilhool'] | 6'11 F/C 2025</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gilhool picked up two quick (questionable) fouls less than 3 minutes in the game and sat the rest of the first half. So all but 1 of his 8 boards and all of his 11 points in the second. The highly-coveted big man got his feet wet with a tip-in and followed that up with a catch-and-shoot three from the right corner. Then, he went to work inside, acting with his face-up game which forced the defense to close-in hard on him and send him to the charity stripe (4-4).&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2025 [player_tooltip player_id='1486754' first='TJ' last='Bryson'], 2025 [player_tooltip player_id='1271429' first='Kai' last='Shinholster'], and 2028 [player_tooltip player_id='2450669' first='Carter' last='Smith'] contributed too.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->