It’s not where you start but where you finish. The old adage is often applied to team rankings and it rings true for Christ School basketball.
The Greenies’ first state championship season in 12 years is being rewarded with a steady climb in the MaxPreps XCellent national rankings. They moved up five spots to No. 32 in this week’s list, which was updated Monday.
Two public-school state champions, Central Cabarrus (No. 15) and Charlotte Myers Park (No. 28), are the only North Carolina teams ranked ahead of Christ School. The XCellent rankings have an important distinction – they are hand-picked by the MaxPreps staff and not computer-generated.
The Greenies (31-4) closed out the season with a six-game winning streak, including a 53-48 victory over Carmel Christian in the NCISAA 4-A state championship game on Feb. 25.
Emanuel Richards ’23 and Anthony Robinson ’23 were named to the NCISAA all-state team. All-conference players in the Carolinas Athletic Association were Emanuel, Anthony, Bryson Cokley ’24, Keenan Wilkins ’24, and Jamari Briggs ’24.
The Greenies were the co-champions in the CAA this season, which was the 100th year for a program started in the winter of 1922 and 1923.
The rest of second-year head coach Josh Coley’s roster consisted of Lleyton Thomas-Johnson ’24, Cole Boyer ’24, Ty Dixon ’23, T.J. Hamilton ’24, Diego Rojas Bowe ’25, Jo Ahart ’25, Ambrose Ehlers ’24, Matthew Pethel ’23, Bruce White ’24, and Jozohn Price ’24.
Coach Coley’s assistant coaches were Michael Karp, Robert Hutchison, Jordan Phillips, and Cienzo Ross.