Let’s be honest: the novelty of staying quiet wears off quickly for 300 boys.
Christ School did not make the student section wait long Tuesday night – about 1 minute and 55 seconds to be exact. Lleyton Thomas-Johnson ’24 boarded a miss by Legion Collegiate (S.C.), raced back down the floor, and took a feed from Bryson Cokley ’24.
Lleyton’s shot from just inside the paint kissed off the glass for points No. 9 and No. 10, the latter being the magic number in the annual Christmas in the Greenie Dome or "Silent Night" basketball game.
Bryson (14 points) would go on to play some of his best minutes of the season. Keenan Wilkins ‘24 (13 points), Jamari Briggs ’24 (11), Mason Collins ‘28 (11), and Mikey Wilkins ‘25 (10) hit for double digits as well, with the Greenies scoring 30 points as a team in the first quarter of an 86-49 win.
Christ School (10-1) has now won eight consecutive games to protect its No. 1 ranking in the state among all NCISAA teams by The Charlotte Observer and Phenom Hoops.
“Obviously, this game means a lot for the team and community,” Bryson said.
“It’s a high-energy game and we were looking forward to it from the beginning. I feel like we’re playing at our peak right now. There’s still a few mental lapses, but I feel like once we get that figured out, we’re going to be fine.”
Bryson connected on a couple 3-pointers early, but it was the dunking of the George Mason recruit that gave the Greenies their biggest spark. There was a one-handed flush in transition during the first quarter and an alley-oop off a lob from Keenan in the second half.
Christ School led 30-15 after the first quarter, 54-24 at halftime, and 74-38 entering the fourth quarter. Five seniors in the starting lineup – Bryson, Keenan, Jamari, Lleyton, and Jozohn Price ’24 – was an intentional change on the part of coach Josh Coley, who wanted his most experienced players to savor their last Christmas in the Greenie Dome.
“We’ve been on fast starts lately, our defense has allowed us to get out and get easy baskets and help the offense. I was really happy to see that continue tonight,” Coach Coley said.
“It was good for our seniors especially to enjoy the moment.”
Tuesday’s points total was the most by the Greenies in any game so far this season, with more individual contributions from Madden Collins ’24 (seven points), Lleyton (six), Cole Boyer ’24 (five), T.J. Hamilton ‘24 (four), Jozohn (three), and Calvin Williams ‘24 (two).
Christ School won’t play at home again until Jan. 12, and in the meantime have two holiday tournaments on the near horizon – the Lemon Street Classic which is Dec. 21-23 in Marietta, Ga., and the John Wall Invitational which is Dec. 27-30 in Raleigh.
JV Greenies 69, Legion Collegiate 54
A five-point game at halftime looked much different after three quarters.
The JV Greenies found their mojo in the early stages of Tuesday’s second half and rode the scoring of Thomas Vickery ’26 (21 points) and Jayden White ’26 (16) to their third win.
Additional scorers were Henry Chapman ’25 (nine), Cooper Perone ’25 (eight), Drew Hykin ’26 (five), Buck Duggins ’25 (four), Hunter Sanford ’25 (four), and Alonzo Garcia Nunez (two).
The team’s next game is Jan. 9 at Asheville Christian Academy.