Mercer Christian Academy was founded in 1984, but under the leadership of Johnston Baptist Church, MCA has split and from that has emerged Summit Christian Academy.
On the basketball court, the name may be different, but faces and success still look very familiar.
Coming off of a 19-13 season last year, the Falcons have opened eyes around the state with an 13-2 start which includes wins over Class A No. 3 Greater Beckley Christian, AA No. 9 Midland Trail, AAA East Fairmont, AAA PikeView, AAAA Riverside and AA Summers County.
The only losses for the Mercer County lads have come against AAA No. 2 Shady Spring and AAAA Princeton. Summit led Shady late in the third period and had the advantage on Princeton going into the fourth quarter.
“If you had told me at the beginning of the season that we would have the record we have and beat the teams that we have, I’m not for sure I would have thought that,” head coach Matt Patton said.
While the record may come as a slight surprise, Patton was convinced his team was more than capable of big time success.
“The players and us as coaches were excited to start the season. They have worked hard and looked forward to the season. A lot of them play travel (ball) together, so they got started in March,” Patton said. “In our summer league, we played some really tough competition and the only team we lost to was Wyoming East. They are going to compete for a state championship. We went to the Liberty (University) basketball camp and played against teams like Spring Mills, Jefferson and Cave Mills. We were able to compete and win some of those games.”
The foundation for success a year ago, as well as the leading scorer, was M.J. Patton who has continued to scorch the nets in his fourth season as a varsity starter. The senior leader is averaging 20 points per game, along with four rebounds, six assists and three steals.
The most notable difference for the Falcons, however, has to do with the supporting cast which is one year bigger, faster, stronger and more mature.
“One of the biggest changes in our team and our success has been in the development of (senior) Chance Watkins and (sophomore) Eli Patton. Both of them completely transformed their bodies over the summer,” Patton said. “Eli grew up a little bit and Chance put in the work to trim down a little bit. They are now two different players the way they are playing defense and offense as wll. It has really been cool to see.”
Eli, who is coming off of a solid freshman season, has raised his scoring average five points to 17 per game and just like his older brother, fills up the stat sheet.
“I watched him grow up, of course, and I know his mentality,” Patton said about his son. “He is as close to what they refer to as that Kobe (Bryant) mentality, or killer mentality, of any player that I have coached. He doesn’t remember that he has missed the last five shots. He is ready to take the shot and wants the ball in hands at the end of the game.”
“He also runs the point as much or more as M.J. does. The thing about Eli that has been the most impressive for me is the way he has changed his defense. He has always been a great offensive player, but he is playing top-notch defense this year and he has turned some of that into offense. Eli is guarding the best player, no matter their size or their position. He has held some of the top scorers and top guards to low numbers.”
While Eli has put in the offseason work, it also didn’t hurt that nature intervened on his behalf.
“He had a big growth spurt between eighth and ninth grade and had another one this year. Him and M.J. are about the same height now,” Patton said. “He is bigger and more bulky. He grew into his body size, which is part of what helped him have such a great start. He put in the effort in the weight room as well.”
Even though Summit Christian has two prolific scorers, the Falcons go much deeper with a pair of players that average close to a double-double each night.
Watkins is averaging 12 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Kyler Carpenter adds 11 points and grabs eight rebounds. Carpentered tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds against Shady Spring Friday night in the New River CTC Invitational.
“M.J. and Chance have played together since their first sporting teams. They played (recreation) center soccer and in (recreation) center basketball and they were together on the same team.,” Patton said. “They have played sports together in some form since they were like four years old. They have competed against each other some, but have been together for a long time.”
The balanced scoring attack has been a huge key to the success in the early going for the Falcons.
“That was part of the goal coming in. We wanted it to be like that,” Patton said. “I wanted us to be diverse. If I can get M.J. in an (isolation) situation, I will take my chances every single time. If I can get Eli in a catch and shoot, I will take that. But, I knew we had four or five guys that could lead us in scoring every single night.”
“We are so much harder to guard when they are all involved,” Patton went on to say. “We have two excellent play-makers that are both smart. They are not just looking to get their own shot, they are looking to create. They will make the pass to get a better shot. It is something that we tried to instill very early in the summer. This team has a very high basketball IQ.”
The player that doesn’t receive the limelight as often as the others is senior Gage Thompson. Lurking in the shadows, Thompson is a coaches dream to have on the floor.
“Gage has played all four years,” Patton said. “Last year he was the six or seven man depending on the need. He got to play with us more over the summer and has worked really hard. Gage is that utility guy that can guard a lot of different types of players. He takes charges, sets screens and boxes out so somebody else can get rebounds.”
“If you just read our stat line, fans may not think he is doing much,” Patton continued. “If you know the game, you see things like him getting M.J. open four times in a row, or he boxed out so Chance could get a rebound. He took a charge to get the other team’s best player in foul trouble. Plays like that.”
Summit Christian has averaged 65 points per game and defensively it has held opponents to just 45 points. Only three has a team scored 60 points against the Falcons.
“When we were at the Liberty camp, I really noticed that we had the personnel to stay in front of people and play defense. We use some presses and half-court traps, but we also play tough man-to-man defense,” Patton said. “Kyler is 6-foot-5. Chance is 6-foot-4 and they have been able to protect the rim pretty well. All five guys will take charges and that gets in the opponents mind. All five guys are willing to play tough defense, willing to pressure the ball and box out. Those things translate into us playing tough defense.”
Depth is one of the few concerns for the Falcons this year, thanks in large part to injuries and youth.
“It is a concern and even more of a concern as the year has gone along,” Patton admitted. “We started with 15 players and had two drop out early on. Our six-man is Adam Jones, who dominated last year in middle school. Size-wise he can compete and play, but a day before we scrimmaged Wyoming East he broke his hand. His first game was East Fairmont (game six), but he only played a couple of minutes. Princeton (game seven) was his first full game back, but he was limited in that game too. Adam is somebody that can contribute a lot. Having him back though has been very helpful.”
Five freshmen, along with Adam Cunningham, have seen varsity time and should provide depth as the year goes along.
“They are learning,” Patton said. “Adam is 6-foot-3, but he can do some things for us. He rebounds well and can get up off of the floor.”
The Falcons have a huge showdown at home Saturday against Teays Valley Christian before heading to a tournament at the Bob Jones Academy starting Jan. 21.