Winston-Salem Christian rallies past The Burlington School in matchup of Tar Heel squads

RALEIGH -- The Lions of Winston-Salem Christian may have started slowly, but it was the way they finished that led them past The Burlington School, 64-51 in the quarterfinals of the T.J. Warren bracket of the 2022 John Wall Holiday Invitational.

Both teams started slow but got things going a couple of minutes in. Junior Zion Walker helped lead the charge early for TBS, as the Spartans were able to gain the early edge after the first quarter, 12-10.

In the second quarter, it was Winston-Salem Christian that started to make its mark, using its size and really attacking the paint. It helped them from being down early on to going up at halftime, 27-23.

Lewis Walker led the way for W-S Christian with eight points in the first half, while Torey Alston and Kany Tchanda both chipped in with six. The Burlington School was led by Walker with eight points.

Coming out of halftime, Winston-Salem Christian continued to make a point in attacking and getting into the paint, using their physicality and length. In doing so, they were able to create the first double-digit lead of the game late in the third quarter and hold that 10-point lead by the end of the third, 44-34.

WSC continued to push the pedal and eventually increased their lead to 20 points halfway through the fourth quarter. In the end, the Lions were just too much on both sides of the ball, eventually taking home the Day 1 victory,

The Lions advance to Thursday's Warren semifinals vs. the winner of Raleigh Word of God and Raleigh Christian; TBS will play the loser of the WOG-RC game in Thursday's first game of the day in the consolation round.