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Both Charles Henderson High School football and basketball competed Tuesday and both were successful in those contests.
The Trojan football team finished tournament play at the Alabama State University 7-on-7 tournament after a lightning delay as co-champions. After the Trojans’ solid performance in last week’s Troy University 7-on-7 tournament, head coach Quinn Hambrite praised his team’s resilience. Resilience was also the topic after the ASU tournament.
After going just 1-3 in pool play, the Trojans were in for a hot streak. Charles Henderson beat Carver-Montgomery in the first round of the elimination round and then defeated Park Crossing in the semifinals. Charles Henderson took on Wildwood High of Florida in the championship round and maintained the lead before weather delayed and then abandoned the game, meaning Charles Henderson and Wildwood were declared co-champions. The Trojans also managed to finish as co-champions, despite a number of starters not being available for the tournament.
“That’s what I said (last week) about resilience,” Hambrite pointed out. “We were missing (starters), we were missing some of our top guys, guys who will definitely play on Friday night.
“We had to play a few more youngsters and some (junior varsity) boys to fill those spots. Being able to make it this far in the league game without some of what I consider to be the best players in (Tier) 5A showed us that when we need to make plays, we will do it. We developed a lot of depth in this 7-on-7.”
Some of the players who couldn’t compete in the 7v7 tournament were at Trojan Arena and attending a team basketball camp at Troy University.
“Some of our boys have been busy going unbeaten,” said Hambrite, laughing. “When you have an athletic program where multiple teams thrive, that says a lot about your program and it’s definitely a great thing.”
The Trojan basketball team went 5-0 at Troy University camp after going just 1-2 at another camp at Auburn University just days earlier.
“Considering we were 1-2 at Auburn a few days earlier, I thought (the players) did a good job regrouping and focusing on what we’re trying to do and playing together,” said CHHS basketball coach Tim Fayson. “We’ve got some new people coming over from Pike Lib and getting them used to what we’re doing is really what this summer is about.”
At Camp Troy, the Trojans defeated New Brockton, Eufaula, Mainland High (Fla.), Bainbridge High (GA), Bay High (Fla.), and Valley to remain undefeated. After playing without a few starters in the Auburn camp, the Trojans were able to win back some of those players and get the team back on track at Troy.
“The first few games at Auburn were challenging playing without two starters, but we were able to come back at Troy and had a good few days of practice, too,” Fayson said. “We got some of our guys back in the lineup and I thought we played really, really well (at Troy). We played some really good competitions and beat some really good teams.”
AISA All-State players Scott Cross and Mario Davenport have joined CHHS from Pike Liberal Arts.
New players now wearing Trojan jerseys include All-State players Mario Davenport and Austin Cross. Both Davenport and Cross were star players for Pike Lib’s last two winning teams, and Cross was named The Messenger’s Male Winter Sportsman of the Year following his junior campaign. Davenport will also play on the soccer team.
“I was really proud of how they integrated (into the team) and how our guys took them in and how easy it was to play with them,” Fayson said of the new players. “What they bring to the team and what these guys can do has been really great for us.”
