2009 Bass Pro TofC – day 1

9:10 PM – Word of God 82, Glendale 79.  Trailing 48-33 at the half, Glendale rode an injury to WoG’s C.J. Leslie and hot second half 3-point shooting to claw back and even tie the game twice.  John Wall put on a dunking exhibition in the first half throwing down 4 big slams in various ways, but it was Leslie who led the Holy Rams with 16 points at halftime, finishing with 28 despite missing 1/2 the second quarter and all of the third.  Casey Goss, who had 24 to lead Glendale including 19 in the second half, had a three to tie late but it rimmed out.  The Falcons Taylor Tripplett had 22 points.  National #1 prospect Wall finished with 24 points and 11 assists.  Word of God moves on to play White Station at 8 tomorrow.  Glendale will get St. Raymond at 5:30.

6:40 PM – White Station 67, St. Raymond 55.  Top prospect Joe Jackson had 27 to lead the way into the second round.  The Spartans got 17 points from Jackson to run off to a 41-28 halftime lead.  From there, White Station held off the Raven’s attempts to get back into the game.  Harold McBride scored half of his 18 points in the 3rd to help pull within 4 early in the fourth.  But the Spartan’s shooting percentage of 53.7% for the game kept them out in front the rest of the way.  Ferrakohn Hall added 14 points and 7 rebounds, and Andre Hollins chipped in 12 points for White Station.  For St. Raymond,  Tyreak Johnson netted 11 points and Sidiki Johnson had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

5:15 PM- We’ll be tipping off the 25th edition of the Tournament of Champions shortly with a game featuring two teams with 7 championships between them.  The St. Raymond Ravens and the Memphis White Station Spartans.  Strong guards seem to be the theme of this years tournament.  So it’s appropriate the point guards lead both of these teams.  Tyreak Johnson for the Ravens, and Joe Jackson for White Station.  We’ll be posting updates as soon as we have them.