For two years, players on both Covenant and Tandem’s boys basketball rosters have waited to get a shot to play. A chance to shake off the cobwebs and represent their school.
Both got thrown into the fire Tuesday in a battle where Covenant prevailed in their first home game since the start of the pandemic, winning 41-39 after trailing for much of the game. Karsten Graham’s 13 fourth quarter points including a 3-pointer from the wing with just under two minutes to play propelled Covenant (1-1) to the win, with the long ball putting Covenant up 41-37. The Eagles’ defense held on from there.
“Our first home game, we didn’t have a season last year and I would’ve thought I would’ve played really well last season as well,” Graham said. “I feel bad for the seniors who missed out last year, but we’ve got an opportunity.”
Graham finished with 16 points on the night, finally shaking loose in the fourth after Jackson Coppock did a lot of the early heavy lifting for the Eagles’ offense. Coppock, who checks in at 6-foot-5, attacked the rim and exploited mismatches underneath while accounting for 11 of the Eagles’ 16 first half points. He finished with 16 on the night.
“In the first half our offense couldn’t really get going especially in that first quarter and coach gave us a great talk going into the second half,” Graham said. “Jackson was really aggressive in the first half and then I started getting my flow. In the second half we just played really well, and we we were really fluid and then closed the game out.”
Graham was rock solid at the free throw line in the fourth, going 6-for-6 at the charity stripe. Beck Garber chipped in another four points for the Eagles, but Coppock and Graham accounted for all but nine of the Eagles’ points in first-year head coach John Spears’ home debut at Covenant.
Tandem (0-1) held a slight lead at the end of the first quarter, halftime and the third quarter against Covenant thanks in large part to junior T’vo Gardner, who finished with a team-high 15 points but battled cramps down the stretch. Gardner is lightning quick and gave the Eagles trouble on the break while also knocking down two 3-pointers in the second quarter.
“He’s a sparkplug, he’s a gamer and he’s got a bright future,” said Tandem coach Sam Dale. “He’s only going to get better from here.”
Tandem has eight juniors on the roster as well as a couple of seniors, but none of the juniors have played varsity basketball because Tandem basketball didn’t play during their sophomore season.
“I thought our defense was solid, we’ve just got to work on some aspects of our offense and defense and soon enough we’ll be where we want to be,” Dale said. “Credit to Covenant, they really competed.”
Jay Martin chipped in nine for the Badgers and D.J. Westbrook, Jr. had another eight.
The Badgers will get another tall test Friday when they head to Crozet to take on a loaded Miller squad while Covenant will travel to take on Veritas Thursday night.
