12 | Summer 2017 T he boys’ basketball team finished the season ranked sixth in the nation by CBS/ MaxPreps and #10 by USA Today with a 34-4 record that propelled the team to its ninth NCISAA State Championship and its second trip to Dick’s Nationals. The Bengals swept the season series with arch- rival, Wesleyan Christian, going undefeated and winning the PACIS Conference. They won the HAECO Invitational Tournament (Little 4) Championship for the sixth consecutive year. This is only the second year that a GDS team has won the conference, HAECO, and state championships in the same year (2006). The Bengals made their 17th appearance in the state championship game with a rematch against Wesleyan. The game was tight to the end and Solomon Smith ’17 knocked down a 3-pointer with 6.5 seconds remaining, winning the school’s ninth state championship. JP Moorman ’17 and John Newman ’18 were named to the NCISAA All-State team. The Bengals earned an all- expense paid invite to the prestigious Dick’s National Tournament in New York City, which is an invitational for eight of the best teams in the nation. GDS is the first team from NC to be invited to the tournament twice. The Bengals were seeded #7 and faced #2 IMG Academy (FL). The Bengals advanced to the semi- finals with a 59-40 win over IMG. This win represented the first win by a school from North Carolina at the tournament. At the time of the game, IMG was ranked #4 by USA Today and the #1 MaxPreps ‘Independent’ School in the nation. ESPN announcer, Paul Biancardi, and USA Today writer, Jim Halley, called the game “the biggest upset in tournament history!” The Bengals’ season came to a close in the semi-finals of Dick’s Nationals with a 72-45 loss vs. Montverde Academy (FL). JP Moorman ’17 was named to the All-Tournament team and to the AP All-State team. Four starters from this year’s championship team are seniors, and three of them will play basketball in college next season: JP Moorman (Temple University), Jordan Perkins (North Carolina Central University), and Solomon Smith (Queens University of Charlotte). The fourth senior, Pearce Landry, received the prestigious Morehead-Cain Scholarship at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Coach Freddy Johnson’s career record now stands at 992-283. His 992 wins are more wins than any other coach in North Carolina high school basketball history. At the completion of the 2016-17 season, Coach Johnson was invited to be the Head Coach of the West team for the Jordan Brand National All-Star Game, adding to his impressive list of All Star games that includes the Capital Classic (1997) and the McDonald’s All American Game (2013) and was named the Ballislife.com National Coach of the Year. t A SeasontoRemember