Holiday Invitational

Word of God returns to form with win over Hammond

The Holy Rams - who won the HSOT a year ago - shook off a tough loss in Thursday's first round by rallying to a win against Columbia (SC) Hammond School, 77-60, in the Summit Hospitality consolation bracket Friday afternoon.
Posted 2013-12-27T20:14:53+00:00 - Updated 2013-12-28T03:34:34+00:00

Now this is the Raleigh Word of God team fans expected to see in this year’s HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational.

The Holy Rams – who won the HSOT a year ago – shook off a tough loss in Thursday’s first round by rallying to a win against Columbia (SC) Hammond School, 77-60, in the Summit Hospitality consolation bracket Friday afternoon.

“The exciting thing about today is the difference in the last six quarters we’ve played in comparison to the first two quarters yesterday,” WOG coach Quentin Jackson said. “We played at a totally different level. It shows they’re growing, it shows they’re developing.”

Hammond led 23-17 after one quarter, but WOG roared back with a 21-5 advantage in the second quarter and rolled to the victory. Sophomore guard Jaylen Fornes led the way for the Holy Rams with 28 points, while junior guard Demetrius Troy came off the bench to add 22 points and four steals. Jordan Whitfield, a freshman guard, added 13 points for the Holy Rams, who will face Raleigh Sanderson at 11:30 a.m. in Saturday’s Summit fifth-place game.

Hammond’s star sophomore guard, Seventh Woods, followed his 42-point outburst in his first game of the HSOT with 23 points. Skyhawks junior forward Xavier McDaniel added 15 points and sophomore forward Chevez Goodwin contributed 12 points and a team-high nine rebounds.

“My compliments to their coach and their guards, they really did well,” Hammond coach Mark McClam said.

 

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