VGCC Vanguards 1-3 in early hoops action
The first four games of the 2010-2011 Vance-Granville Community College men’s basketball season are in the books, but Vanguards head coach Avery Wilson said that the 1-3 win-loss record does not tell the whole story. Three of the four games, including two heartbreakingly close losses, were decided by a combined total of nine points. “The record really doesn’t indicate the true grit of this team,” Coach Wilson said. “They have a lot of potential to be really outstanding. I’m enjoying coaching this group of guys, particularly the freshmen.”
Indeed, freshmen have been key contributors to all four games. In the first game of the season, freshman Zach Beale of Franklinton led the team with 24 points in his VGCC debut, as the Vanguards fell to the nationally-ranked Davidson County Community College Storm, 119-85, in Lexington on Nov. 6. Fellow freshmen Dante Walker and Ryan Branch, both of Louisburg, added 16 points and 14 points, respectively. Sophomore Sam Hilton of Charleston, S.C. scored 17 points.
In the Nov. 10 home opener at Aycock Recreation Center in Henderson, the Vanguards lost 90-86 to the Eagles of Wake Technical Community College. With 16 points, Hilton was the top scorer, followed by sophomore Trentin Cozart of Oxford with 15 points, Walker with 14 and Beale with 10.
Going back on the road, VGCC recorded its first win of the season on Nov. 13 when the Vanguards bested the Southside Virginia Community College Force, 85-84. Cozart led his team with 25 points. Hilton and fellow sophomore Derrick Knight of Bunn added 14 points apiece. Walker scored 11 points.
On Nov. 17, the Vanguards lost their second home game when the Jaguars of Johnston Community College defeated VGCC by a score of 86-82. The leader in scoring was Walker, with 19 points, who was one of five Vanguards in double figures. Others were Hilton and Knight, who again scored 14 each, Branch and Cozart, who each contributed 13, and Beale, with 11 points.
VGCC travels to Guilford Technical Community College for its next game, on Dec. 1.
Above: VGCC’s Zach Beale handles the ball during the Vanguards’ home opener versus Wake Tech on Nov. 10. (VGCC photo)
