EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Basketball
WHCA offers varsity boys and girls teams for grades 7-12.
Download the 2008-2009 schedule for girls and boys
For information about our Athletic Booster Club, click here.
BASKETBALL NEWS
WHCA coach two-time All-American, Lipscomb Superstar
Former Lipscomb University star and two-time All-American Kenyatta Perry is WHCA’s new basketball coach. Perry’s resume would impress any sports fan, and that includes the boys and girls basketball players of WHCA. He’s such a catch, in fact, that former Lipscomb University professor and current WHCA Principal Dr. Richard Jones asked him to coach both the boys and girls teams.
Perry played high school ball at Northeast High School in Clarksville, graduating in 1993 as a member of the all-state first team and with a scholarship waiting for him at Lipscomb University. Perry was wildly successful at Lipscomb, a two-time All-American under Coach Don Meyer and one of the all-time top scorers in the history of the university. He was also named Player of the Year in both the “Sporting News” and “Dick Vitale’s College Hoops” magazines. He went on to play semi-pro for the Youngstown Hawks in Ohio before settling back down in middle Tennessee.
WHCA teams challenged, thrilled with new coach
White House Christian Academy’s varsity basketball teams are young. They include, in fact, several middle-schoolers. But that doesn’t deter their new coach, former Lipscomb superstar and two-time All-American Kenyatta Perry.
“We’ve got a lot of young players on both teams, and I’m trying to get them as much experience as possible as well as win games,” Perry said. “We have some older kids who know how to play, and I’m trying to integrate them with the young players. They are all learning a brand-new system, so there’s a learning curve before they play the way they want to play.”
Half of the boys team are middle-schoolers, so Perry is looking to the older players to provide leadership and encouragement. One of WHCA’s returning seniors and last year’s leading scorer, Bradley Edwards, missed the opening game and was a question mark for the rest of the season. His recent return has affected his team not just athletically but psychologically as well.
“Bradley (Edwards) coming back, that has restored a level of confidence in our team,” Perry stated. “Clark (Beckham) has played well, a big surprise in rebounding and taking to the basket. Those are our two real impact players.”
For the Lady Eagles, junior Leslie Marberry, who has been a team leader and starter since her freshman year, is expected to continue that leadership role this year.
“I knew Leslie would be one of our better players from the first day of practice,” said Perry. “There are a couple of our girls who played well that I didn’t expect. Angel (Nelligan) is great on defense, and Megan (McAfee) is athletic and rebounds well for us. When they get a little more comfortable playing together, they’ll be even better.”
Perry, who is a White House resident, is assisted by fellow Lipscomb graduate and basketball standout Shannon Brown.
“Shannon was a couple of years ahead of me at Lipscomb,” Perry explained. “She understands the system and is a great help to us.”
Perry has made it clear that his goals and expectations for his teams are to steadily improve while having fun.
“Our kids have gotten a lot better just the brief times we’ve been together,” he said. “At all times we want to enjoy playing with each other and play as hard as we can. We’ll let the wins and losses take care of themselves.”
Eagles take three out of four in first week of hoops
By Terri Beckham
The WHCA Eagles varsity basketball teams won three of their first four games of the season last week, the Lady Eagles going 2-0 with a 28-20 win over Daniel 1 Academy of Cookeville and a 27-21 victory over United Christian Academy of Dickson. The boys defeated United Christian Academy 60-41 and fell to Daniel 1 60-38.
After the season opener against Daniel 1, WHCA Coach Kenyatta Perry said, “I think our girls played well for their first game. We started making some plays at the end. Our team was very excited to play tonight, and it took a little bit of time to settle them down. Overall I was pleased.
“Our boys will get better the more we play. We’re a young team, and I think nerves were a factor. Clark Beckham played well in the post, and Caleb Walker played well in spurts, got into some foul trouble in the second half. We had too many turnovers, but we’ll work on that.”
One of WHCA’s returning seniors and last year’s leading scorer, Bradley Edwards, missed the opening game and was a question mark for the rest of the season. His return for the game against UCA affected his team not just athletically but psychologically as well.
“Bradley coming back, that has restored a level of confidence in our team,” said Perry.
In the Eagles' 60-41 win over UCA last week, the Eagles took the lead early and never relinquished it. Junior Clark Beckham led scoring with a career high of 21 points. Edwards provided not just leadership but also 18 points, including a 3-pointer. Senior Caleb Walker had 8 points; Kale Nash, senior, scored 5; and freshman Nathan Marberry and eighth grader Craig Flora each scored 4 points.
The Lady Eagles were ahead by just two points with less than two minutes remaining in the game against UCA when junior Leslie Marberry hit a lay-up to extend the lead to four. Senior Kelsey Garner got a free throw and freshman Kelly Haw scored a basket with seven seconds left for the 27-21 win over UCA.
Marberry was high scorer against UCA with 14 points. Garner scored 3. Seniors Megan McAfee, Kristen Wagahoff, junior Angel Nelligan, Haw, and 7th grader Lauren Sutherland each contributed 2 points.
Macy Owen and Tommy Ptak were lead scorers for UCA with 12 and 23 points, respectively.
Against Daniel 1 in last week's season opener, the Lady Eagles trailed by two at the half, then started the fourth quarter with a one-point lead, 18-17. The fourth quarter was key as they put up 10 points to Daniel 1’s 3.
Leading scorer for the Lady Eagles was Marberry with 9 points, followed by senior Sarah Perry who scored 6. Garner got 5, including a 3-pointer. McAfee scored 4, and Wagahoff and Nelligan each scored 2 points.
The boys kept the game close in the first period, but were down 26-17 at the half. Daniel 1 pulled away in the third period, scoring 18 points to the Eagles’ 9. With Walker benched for a good portion of the fourth period due to foul trouble, Daniel 1 further extended its lead.
Beckham was high scorer for WHCA with 14 points, followed by Nash with 12, including two 3-pointers. Walker scored 7 points, including a 3-pointer, and eighth grader Austin Frazier scored a 3-pointer. Flora scored 2.
Caleb Conner and Hillary Estright were high scorers for Daniel 1 Academy with 19 and 13 points, respectively.