Villains and Bengals Win HAECO Titles

Bishop McGuinness girls takes the HAECO crown

The top-seeded Bishop McGuinness Villains (7-0), playing in their first ever HAECO Invitational, held off the No.2 Golden Eagles of Smith 45-39, to claim the Women’s HAECO Championship. Smith utilized 5-feet-10 center, Zoe Davis, to forge a 35-34 lead going into the fourth quarter. Davis finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds and was named to the All-Tournament Team.

The Villains switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone to limit Davis’s touches. It worked as the Villains outscored the Eagles 11-4 over the last quarter. The Eagles (8-1) contributed to their own demise by missing 13 free throws. The Villains were led by tournament MVP Adelaide Jernigan. Jernigan finished with 19 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Sisters Charley Chappell and Tate Chappell scored 10 points each while hauling down 15 rebounds between them. The difference in the game came down to BMHS scoring 24 points in the paint to Smith’s 12 and 12 to 2 fast break points.

GDS boys win 19th HAECO Invitational

The HAECO Invitational has become the Greensboro Day School HAECO Invitational. Greensboro Day has played in 21 championships while winning 19 of them. Coach Freddy Johnson’s No.1 seeded team claimed the 46th annual HAECO with a 64-50 victory over No. 2 Ben L. Smith High School. The Bengals (14-2) led early by nine points paced by center Joe Bachman’s nine points and 11 rebounds. The Eagles (10-2) stayed close thanks to the hot shooting of guard Markguan Gilbert. He was 6-of-7 for 13 first half points. Smith trailed 30-25 at the break.

The Eagles played tough, holding a 35-34 lead starting the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Bengals’ guard Jaydon Young torched them for 21 second-half points. Young finished with 27 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while being named Tournament MVP. Teammate Bachman added 14 points, 15 rebounds and was selected to the ALL-Tournament team. Gilbert was the only Eagle to score in double figures with 23 points and five rebounds. He was also named to the All-Tournament team.