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By James J. Lidington

ISLE OF WIGHT

Grant Worthy had 14 points and William Fricke had 11 as Isle of Wight Academy fell to Portsmouth Christian, 73-50, here on Friday night.

Theo Wheeler had 17 points and Timothy Montgomery, 15, for PCS.

IWA (9-8, 4-2 in the Metro Athletic Conference) struggled to keep pace with the Patriots, the top-ranked team in the Metro. PCS rattled off 22 of the first 33 points and led 40-22 at halftime. The Chargers got as close at nine points when Russ Wells scored to make it 40-31 with 6:47 left in the third quarter.

The win ran Portsmouth’s Metro record to 5-0, 13-4 overall.

Worthy continues his pursuit of the conference scoring record. In the most recent Metro scorer rankings, his 16.7 points per game was second only to Williamsburg Christian’s Dexter Radcliffe (24.5 points per game).

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Wells was 8-for-10 from the foul line in the final two periods of play as Isle of Wight Academy topped Greenbrier Christian 57-53 in OT on Jan. 14.

The Gators’ Mike Giles’ 3-pointer as time expired in regulation tied the score at 48.

Wells finished with 11 points; Worthy and Fricke each had 14 for the visiting Chargers. Greenbrier was led by J.T. Inskeep and Mike Giles, each with 20 points.

The Chargers had fallen to the Gators, 61-58, on Jan. 4 and, from the beginning this night, it was clear another close contest was in the offing. IWA led after a period, 13-12, and at halftime by a 23-20 margin.

A strong third period by Worthy and William Fricke put the Chargers ahead, 33-28, going to the final quarter. But Greenbrier battled back, outscoring Isle of Wight 20-15 by the end of regulation.

Wells missed one of a pair of free throws with 4.7 seconds left to put the Chargers up by 3, 48-45. The Gators hustled the ball up court, setting Giles up for the equalizer.

Field goals by Colby Williams, and a shot for an old-fashioned three-point-play, and Worthy helped the Chargers duel to a 9-5 advantage in overtime. The Gators made only one field goal — by Giles — in extra time and his team was 3-for-6 from the line during that span.

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The Chargers dominated Denbigh Baptist Christian School 73-27 on Jan. 14. Worthy, the Metro Athletic Conference’s second-leading scorer with 17.4 points per game, finished with 15 points and Wells had 12. No Patriot player finished in double figures.

Winless on the season, Denbigh managed to limit the IWA lead to a 5-point lead, 14-9, after a quarter. Challenged by their coaches during the break, the IWA side exploded in the second quarter, 33-11. They got 10 points — including a pair of threes — by Worthy and nine points by Williams during that streak.

The Chargers shut out Denbigh 14-0 in the third quarter and, with substitutes playing significant minutes, outscored the host schools 12-7 in the final period.

 

JAMES LIDINGTON teaches at Isle of Wight Academy. Contact him at 357-3866.