News

Contributors: Bria Irizarry, Colleen Gunning and Ryan Killen

Twitter: @daathletics
Instagram: @dacavsathletics

Durham Academy athletics will host its first-ever Virtual CavDome for the DA community on Friday night when the varsity boys and girls basketball teams take on Wake Christian in Kirby Gym! 

There will be three different Microsoft Teams calls — one for Preschool/Lower School, one for Middle School and one for Upper School — hosted by a DA faculty member in that division, so students and their families can watch the games via livestream and join their peers in cheering on the Cavaliers. There will be live interviews with members of both the varsity boys and girls teams, trivia games, a raffle and pre-recorded entertainment for all viewers to enjoy. 

The Virtual CavDome will take place between 6 and 8 p.m. to accommodate both the girls game, which begins at 5:30 p.m., and the boys game, which begins at 7 p.m. We all miss spending time together on the sidelines. This Virtual CavDome will offer an opportunity for our community to gather safely and support our athletics teams!

Please follow the instructions below on how to watch the livestream of the games via the NFHS Network. Links to join the Teams calls will be emailed Friday.

Boys Basketball

The varsity boys basketball team defeated North Raleigh Christian Academy 73–64 in an entertaining matchup last Thursday night. The first quarter was the Cole Sinclair show. Sinclair went 5 for 6 from the field for 12 points in a matter of minutes to give the Cavs a 17–11 lead heading into the second quarter. Ninth-grader Jayde Braswell had a couple of excellent assists, including a fantastic pass that found Toby Harris underneath for the and-one.    

By the time the second half came around, it was senior Harris’ turn to go on a big run. Harris scored six straight points for the Cavs after the Knights had cut the lead to six. The Knights fought back again in the fourth quarter, cutting the DA lead to four, but Sinclair and Harris found a way to get to the free-throw line and give the Cavs some breathing room once again. 

Harris scored an incredible 28 points through three of the four quarters and 31 points total, along with nine rebounds. Sinclair contributed 27 points and six rebounds on the night, while Braswell connected on a couple of 3-pointers in the third quarter and had 10 points and three assists.

The Cavs followed up that win with an important 57–54 victory over Cary Academy on Friday night. The win moved the Cavs into second place in the conference and 2–1 on the season vs. Cary Academy.

The Cavs faced an early 4-0 deficit, but then caught fire from deep. Sinclair, Harris and Braswell each nailed a 3-pointer to swing the score to an 11–6 DA lead. Sinclair went on to have another fantastic opening quarter, scoring 12 first-quarter points for the second straight night. The Cavs carried a seven-point lead into halftime and extended the lead to 11 points in the third quarter. Junior Charlie Rand had a couple of key minutes off the bench, but the Chargers fought back hard, and with two minutes remaining, they stole the lead from DA. 

During the final two minutes, DA outscored Cary 8–4 on the back of six free throws by Harris and a layup from sophomore Bryson Tupper. Harris was huge at the line down the stretch, converting on all six attempts. Cary had one last chance to tie the game, but the Chargers’ 3-point attempt did not fall, allowing the Cavs to emerge victorious.

The Cavs’ winning streak came to an end on Tuesday night, as they lost to a strong, undefeated Trinity Academy 57–50. Trinity got out to an early lead and never let go. The Trinity lead grew to 12 in the third quarter, but DA fought back valiantly. 

The Cavs mounted a comeback, cutting the deficit to seven in the fourth quarter before Sinclair and Harris drilled 3s to cut the Trinity lead down to just one point with a couple of minutes remaining. Trinity scored a couple of layups right after that, reasserting its lead. Unfortunately, the Cavs couldn’t get a couple of shots to fall in the closing seconds as Trinity managed to hang on for the win. 

Harris led the Cavs in scoring with 21 points, and Sinclair finished with 18. DA squares off against Wake Christian on Friday.

Girls Basketball

The varsity girls basketball team bounced back with two road wins after falling to conference frontrunner North Raleigh Christian Academy in Kirby Gym last Thursday.

In the 75–41 loss, DA struggled to get its offense going in the first half after the Knights converted on a number of turnovers to take a sizable lead. Back-to-back scoring drives from ninth-grader Lauren Walsh gave the Cavs some momentum in the third quarter, but ultimately the NRCA lead was too big. Walsh finished the game with 15 points and one rebound. Eighth-grader McKenzie Graves had 14 points and two rebounds, and sophomore Mariam Abdelbarr scored seven points and had three rebounds. Sophomore Kendall Harris was strong on the boards against a very physical Knights offense, grabbing seven defensive rebounds to go along with her six points.

DA hit the road on Monday night for a conference matchup with Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh. First-half points from six of eight active DA players made it difficult for the Saints’ defense, and the Cavs pulled away with a 20-point lead at halftime. Abdelbarr led the team on both ends with 12 points, two rebounds and strong defense that forced multiple Saints turnovers. Harris was key under the basket, pulling down seven rebounds, scoring nine points and tallying three assists and three blocks. Senior Amelia Kass ran the point for DA and added seven points and three rebounds in the team’s 42–29 win over Saint Mary’s.

The Cavs were back in Raleigh the following night to face Trinity Academy for the second time this season. From the jump, the DA offense was ready to go and quickly pushed ahead for a double-digit lead after the first quarter. Harris led all scorers with 14 points and seven rebounds, followed by Abdelbarr with 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Walsh handled the ball for the Cavs and added nine points and three assists. Contributions from every active player allowed the team to cruise to a 55–26 win over the Tigers.

The Cavs are 10–5 on the season as they head into their final stretch of regular-season games in the upcoming week.

Swimming

The varsity girls swim team finished in third place out of six teams in the Triangle Independent Schools Athletic Conference meet last Thursday. Cary Academy came out on top. In relays, the girls finished third in both the 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle. Individually, seventh-grader Kenzie Kim finished second in both the 100-yard breaststroke and 500-yard freestyle. Sophomore Spencer Jennings finished second in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard backstroke. The N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association state meet will take place next Monday for swimmers who have qualified.

The varsity boys swim team finished in third place out of five teams in the TISAC conference meet. Cary Academy also took the top spot in the boys meet. There were no individual top-three finishes for the Cavs, but Matthew Krieger and Jason Hugh both qualified for next Monday’s state meet. The Cavs claimed third place relay finishes in the 200-yard medley, 200-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle. 

DA Athletics on the NFHS Network 

While in-person spectators are limited at athletic events this season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are looking forward to having many of you cheer us on from the virtual sidelines via our NFHS Network livestream platform. All home DA events are free of charge, but you must sign up for an account.

To watch events, please follow these instructions:

• Visit https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/durham-academy-durham-nc.

• Click on the “Account” icon beside the subscribe button. (Do not click “Subscribe,” as it will ask you to set up a paid subscription, which is unnecessary.)

• Click the “Sign Up” link.

• Create your free account.

You are now set up to watch DA home games on the NFHS Network! Thank you for your continued support of DA athletics!

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Keeping up with the Cavs

As always, you can keep up with the Cavs on Durham Academy’s website and the Durham Academy App (available on the Apple App Store).

• For a list of all teams, their schedules and directions to games, visit www.da.org/teams.
• Click on an individual team to subscribe to automatic alerts about athletics results, postponements and cancellations, calendar and athletic event reminders. You can also import team schedules into your electronic calendars.
• All information about the daily athletics schedule is also available on DA’s Athletics Hotline: 919-489-2534 (ext. 5).

The DA App: Schedules and Results

• The DA App allows you to keep up with athletics wherever you are. You can download the app from iTunes at http://bit.ly/DACavaliers. The DA App pulls athletics content directly from the DA website and delivers it to iOS-based devices including iPhone and iPad.
• The Athletics portion of the DA App (after launching, click Menu, then click Athletics to open) features results of recent games, a list of upcoming contests and team records.