NCISAA State Championships – Second Round Standouts

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The independent school championships are underway this week as teams begin their road to Ravenscroft, where the state championship games will be held next weekend. While almost every team won't make it to that final game, I still want to highlight guys who are going off in each round of the playoffs. Read below for the best performances from Thursday night's second round games, with the winners playing over the weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1694957' first='Dane' last='Cassada'] - Calvary Day</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>21 points and the game winning stepback three is an ideal performance to top the standouts list, and Cassada looked great all game long last night. The big point guard has the talent and heart to bring another big performance and upset Forsyth Country Day this weekend.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:embed {"url":"https://twitter.com/bcassada/status/1758299541265158372?s=20","type":"rich","providerNameSlug":"twitter","responsive":true} --> <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/bcassada/status/1758299541265158372?s=20 </div></figure> <!-- /wp:embed --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='2320684' first='Isaiah' last='Smith'] - Burlington Christian</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Smith had 22 points to lead all scorers in an easy 65-39 win over Friendship Christian. BCA has exceeded expectations with their young core, and have a winnable game on the road at Gaston Day to potentially setup a cross town rivalry quarterfinal. with TBS</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1284842' first='Addison' last='Newkirk'] - Greensboro Day</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 steals for the junior as the Bengals outlasted Asheville School in a gritty OT game yesterday. He continues to be an X factor on both ends of the floor as his energy and toughness brings another dimension to his team.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1411079' first='MJ' last='Edwards'] - Westchester Country Day</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>27 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists against Hickory Christian made his group sail along smoothly to the last 16. His leadership at the point guard position will continue to help elevate his teammates like [player_tooltip player_id='1273231' first='Jalen' last='Umstead'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1412561' first='Joshua' last='Bayne'] to a level where they may be able to upset Davidson Day.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">[player_tooltip player_id='1889843' first='Zacch' last='Wiggins'] - Weslayan Christian</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>19 points in a wire to wire win over Durham Academy shows how Weslayan is looking to get rolling. Wiggins and company will have to take on Christ School, a difficult matchup in itself. However, with an individual talent like Wiggins, I'd imagine he tries to do everything he can to keep his boys from going home.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Noah Kyritsis - Grace Christian (Raleigh)</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>20 points in a win over Grace Christian (Sanford) where the Eagles jumped on them from the beginning and didn't let up. Another great defensive effort from Kyritsis too, showing why they will be a tough an out as anyone when they're playing together.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->