Holy Rams win all-Raleigh showdown, 71-58, in Warren bracket

In an all-Raleigh private school showdown in the T.J. Warren quarterfinals of the 2022 John Wall Holiday Invitational, Word of God outlasted Raleigh Christian, 71-58.

The Eagles came out firing, jumping out to an early 12-6 lead thanks to seniors Nic Anthony and Jakel Powell scoring multiple baskets. RCA closed out the first quarter with a 14-13 lead.

The second quarter was full of back-and-forth basketball but the Holy Rams went into halftime with a 31-28 advantage. RCA’s Gabe Marquise led all scorers at the break with 11, followed by his teammate Jakel Powell with 9.

Word of God was led by Isaiah Coleman’s 8 points, along with Freddie Dilione’s 6 points and 5 assists.

The second half opened with a thunderous fast break dunk by WOG’s Mayar Wol that was awarded a technical foul due to the player hanging on the rim. Anthony made the subsequent technical free throws to cut the lead back to three.

The third quarter was again back and forth with the Holy Rams holding onto a one-possession lead for the majority of the time. RCA missed a 3 at the buzzer and Word of God finished the third quarter up 47-41.

Word of God’s lead grew to 10 early in the fourth thanks to multiple big shots from Wol, Coleman and Davin Cosby Jr.