Eagles to Meet Flight Again

by HS Hoops

DJ Hoffer - NAC Flight

The Augusta Eagles (3-1) travel to the metro Atlanta area Saturday, November 19, to play the North Atlanta Christian Flight.  The match up will be the fourth in Augusta's three season history.  The Flight lead the series 2-1 after a February, 2010 win (73-61), a January 2011 victory (75-61), and a February 2011 loss in Augusta (83-74).

The North Atlanta Christian (NAC) Flight, first established in 1994, has consistently been the region's top homeschool basketball team the past two seasons, finishing first (2011) and second (2010) in homeschool basketball's Southeast Regional Championships.  The Flight has posted impressive victories against the top teams from Georgia and Tennessee during this time.

The Eagles last played a regular season game Saturday, November 12.  But Augusta has kept busy, scrimmaging Bethune Bowman High School (Bowman, SC) and Allendale Fairfax High School (Fairfax, SC) on the Tuesday and Thursday preceding the contest with the Flight.

"The two scrimmages we recently played were as challenging and intense as any regular season games we have played.  I think we improved this past week," said Eagles coach Chad Cook.

Click below for a video highlighting Augusta's victory versus North Atlanta during the Eagles' final regular season contest of the 2010-2011 season.  After the video, HS Hoops posts the recap of that February game, which was originally published on hslive365.com, a website that covers homeschool basketball.

*****The following is a flashback to the last meeting between the Augusta Eagles and the North Atlanta Christian Flight from 2-12-11 in Augusta, Georgia.*****

by hslive365.com

Miller and Crown Lead Augusta Eagles to 83-74 Victory Over North Atlanta Flight

The Augusta Eagles defeated the North Atlanta Flight 83-74 Saturday, February 12, ending the regular season with a 3 game winning streak.  The Eagles were paced by leading scorers Matt Miller (36 points) and Austin Crown (32 points).  The win establishes a 17-11 record for the Eagles.  The Eagles next play in the South Carolina Home School Championships in Greenville, SC, Friday, February 18.  Augusta will face the winner between the Upstate Eagles and the Providence Panthers in the semifinals of the tournament.

The Flight and the Eagles played a relatively low scoring first half Saturday.  The teams traded leads as Augusta took a 17-14 first quarter lead only to see the Flight answer with a 13-3 run making the score 27-20 midway through the second quarter.  The Eagles ended with a mini run of their own and the Flight entered the half with a 29-26 lead.  Matt Miller's 18 first half points, including four 3 pointers, kept the Eagles in the ball game through various first half dry spells.  The Flight were paced by DJ Hoffer's 11 first half points.

In the second half, the game became a shootout.  The Eagles outscored the Flight 57-45 over the third and fourth quarters as the Eagles' Austin Crown came alive, scoring 28 second half points, including four 3 pointers.  Miller chipped in with 18 second half points to set the stage for the Eagles best offensive half of the season.  Six second half points by Paul Jones came in handy as well as he provided a third scorer on the perimeter during the Eagles' scoring run.

Eagles' seniors Joseph Jessee and Joe Calkins (along with Dominic Brown) contributed with a valiant defensive effort against DJ Hoffer and Conner Smith, the North Atlanta's explosive guards.  "Those guys put in a great effort defensively.  Smith and Hoffer scored 41 points combined and played an impressive game.  But that is about the best we can hope for against those guys.  I don't think any team will stop them.  We just tried to not let them destroy us the best we could."

After the Eagles took a lead late, solid ball handling and clutch free throw shooting (14-17 in the fourth quarter by Crown, Miller, and Jessee) enabled the Eagles to secure the win.

The win extends a three game winning streak for Augusta after beating the Providence Panthers Friday 82-56 and defeating the Upstate Eagles last Saturday 76-62.