After an opening day that saw four NPSAA teams in action, going 2-2, Day 2 had another four teams hitting the hard court with Christian Faith Center making their tournament debut.

With five games on the schedule there was high school hoops action throughout the day in the Planet Athlete North South Classic at Trinity Washington University in Washington D.C.

Here’s a look at a few of the matchups.

Game 1 PHASE 1 High School vs. Friendship Collegiate

Looking to redeem itself from an embarrassing second half debacle PHASE 1 came up short in a second half comeback of its own in a 67-58 defeat at the hands of local D.C. team Friendship Collegiate.

Unlike its first game the start wasn’t as strong for PHASE 1, as Friendship Collegiate got out in transition at every opportunity and converted on nearly all shots within the paint in the first half.

It seemed the exact opposite plagued PHASE 1 with easy shots struggling to find the bottom of the net and defensive lapses allowing Friendship to go on a 8-0 run before the end of the half to take a 40-31 lead.

It was a lead that was never in jeopardy in the second half as PHASE 1 continued to fall further behind the competition despite its usual waning minutes comeback, which was too little too late to amount to more than just a way of making the final seem more respectable than the actual game suggested it to have been.

Game 2 ROCK Academy vs. New Hope Baptist Celtics

Looking to stay unbeaten the ROCK were met with the tough task of having to deal with the scrappy New Hope Celtics who proved to be too much in an 85-71 victory.

It seemed like déjà vu at the start of the game as the Celtics implemented their tenacious full court press that allowed them to jump out to a 10-0 lead. Though the ROCK eventually would figure out how to handle the pressure better as the game progressed the early deficit was a hole that seemed to get deeper as the game went along.

Outside shooting and solid ball movement disallowed the ROCK from getting the defensive stops it needed to mount any sort of comeback after falling behind early and trailing by 15 at half it was a game that was out of reach.

Despite possessing a plethora of athletic wings the outside shooting wasn’t agreeing with the Durham based club and any hopes of cutting into the lead seemed to dissipate as the clock wound down in the second half.

After pushing the lead to as much as 18 the Celtics coasted to victory while the ROCK was left to regroup for their final game on Sunday.

Game 3 Christian Faith Center Academy vs. Princeton Day Academy

In its tournament debut CFCA made it known they were here to make some noise making quick work of Princeton Day Academy in a complete annihilation 74-37.

There seemed to be little Princeton Day could do to slow down the high octane offence the NPSAA’s North Carolina club possessed with fast break dunks coming at a premium.

Even in half court sets the execution was too crisp as Kaza Keane and Mikyle McIntosh seemed like men amongst boys, dissecting the defence off the dribble and finishing around the rim with force.

It was a contest that was over at halftime, with CFCA ahead 40-18.

Game 4 REDA National vs. NIA Prep National Team

In a nail bitter REDA couldn’t pull off the last minute comeback in a heartbreaking 84-81 loss to NIA Prep.

Looking to redeem an earlier loss to the team from New Jersey, REDA looked like it was primed to walk away victorious in the early going with a commanding 25-17 lead with just over five minutes to play in the first half. That was before REDA’s inability to capitalize in transition allowed NIA to creep back in the game, going on a 16-5 run to close out the half and take a 33-32 lead into halftime.

If the first half was close the second half was vacuum sealed air tight with both teams trading leads with seemingly every possession. In the first three minutes of the second half there were more lead changes, seven, than the entire first half.

It wasn’t until four minutes into the final frame that the first tie occurred at 42. Seeing the game was getting close REDA seemed to step into high gear and went on a 6-0 run over a 30 second span to give it its largest lead since early in the first half.

The lead wouldn’t last long as NIA was able to chip away with REDA’s inability to stretch the advantage. It would be just at the halfway mark of that NIA would claim its first lead since the game was tied at 42 and it wouldn’t squander the edge the rest of the way.

Building the advantage to as much as nine with less than five minutes to play it looked like the New Jersey program would cruise to victory but a final surge from REDA in the final two minutes would make things interesting cutting the lead to just three with five seconds remaining.

Yet it was too late for the No.1 ranked program and it was unable to make up for the early season defeat by falling just short.