Former Butler High star Patrick Wessler’s monster night lifts Combine past Northside

After trailing 18-0 at one point in the first quarter, the Goats of Combine Academy (2-0) found a way to rally to an 86-69 victory over Northside Christian Academy (0-1):

Give the ball to 7-foot senior center Patrick Wessler.

A lot.

Wessler had 33 points and 19 rebounds at Friday’s Carmel Christian Tip-Off, just days after he signed his letter-of-intent with Virginia Tech.

Still, it was not the start that Combine coach Jeff Mcinnis had in mind, but he knew his team could find a way to pull out the victory.

“We just came out and played,” Mcinnis said. “We knew it was going to be a tough game, and they choked us early and we knew we had to fight back.”

Fight back they did.

After trailing 24-12 after the first quarter, Combine went on a short scoring run to narrow the gap. Wessler had a big second quarter to turn the tide for Combine. He had three offensive boards that all led to second-chance points in the second quarter.

Heading into halftime, Northside Christian — which played much of the game without star player and top recruit Wesley Tubbs, who left with an apparent injury — still had the lead, but Combine was able to shorten it to just seven points. Combine’s Jayden Epps had a solid third quarter by scoring six of his eight points. His defense made an impact by forcing Northside Christian into bad decisions resulting in turnovers.

While Epps did not have his normal scoring performance, his leadership on the court still made a big impact for the team with him helping initiate the offensive sets Mcinnis had in place.

The fourth quarter was all Combine as it outscored Northside Christian 27-15. Wessler had a dominant performance in this quarter as well. He added five more rebounds to his total in the fourth quarter.

“I knew as a big man, as the biggest dude on the floor, it was my job to dominate,” Wessler said. “(I needed) to get rebounds offensively and defensively as well as score the ball. As a team, once we got down, we knew we were good. We knew we were the better team, and we just came back with good energy, played solid and came all the way back.”

“I felt like Pat had the advantage in the game,” Mcinnis said. “We just utilized the big fella down the stretch.”

THREE WHO MATTERED

Patrick Wessler, Combine Academy: The Virginia Tech commit had a big-time performance for his team and at times really put it on his back. He scored the first six points for Combine out of the halftime break and grabbed four rebounds in that span as well.

A.J. Smith, Combine Academy: The senior guard totaled 11 points and six assists. He initiated most of Combine’s offense throughout the duration of the game. He got off to a slow start by turning the ball over twice early but turned things around in the second half to help propel his team.

Daniel Lubamba, Northside Christian: Lubamba was the spark in the first quarter to get Northside Christian off on the right track. He scored the opening points for his team and was pushing the ball well in transition to get quick, easy baskets.

WORTH MENTIONING

▪ There was a total of 38 fouls in this game. While the game never got chippy by any means, it was a very physical game, and the referees were quick to make a call when they saw excessive contact.

▪ Patrick Wessler’s big performance comes just days after he signed his national letter of intent with the Virginia Tech Hokies.

▪ Illinois commit, Jayden Epps, from Combine Academy had a rough shooting night but made up for it with his defense by gathering four steals and forcing a handful of turnovers as well.

UP NEXT

Both teams will be taking to court again on Saturday, Nov. 13 on day two of the Carmel Christian Tip-Off Classic. Northside Christian Academy will face Cannon School at 3 p.m. and Combine Academy will take on Good Better Best Academy at 7:30 p.m.

Friday’s Top Performers

Derek Bradley, Westminster Catawba: 20 points, eight rebounds, three assists in a 72-55 win over Wayne Country Day.

Patrick Wessler, Combine Academy: 33 points, 19 rebounds, three blocks in a 86-69 win over Northside Christian.

Logan Threatt, Carmel Christian: 15 points, six rebounds, five assists in a 96-63 win over Covenant Day.

Friday’s Tip-Off summaries

CARMEL CHRISTIAN 96, COVENANT DAY 63

CARMEL CHRISTIAN 96: Bean 7, Smith 8, Mike 2, Cade Tyson 15, Nyles Howard 15, Logan Threatt 15, Boston Smith 11, Howard 4, Burnham 4, Krawczyk 8 Siler 4

COVENANT DAY 63: Boyce 5, Jahmir Brown 17, M. Brown 9, Marcus 9, Rivens 6, Steele 2, Ufochukwu 10

COMBINE ACADEMY 86, NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN 69

COMBINE 86: AJ Sith 11, Baucom 5, Murphy 9, Patrick Wessler 33, Epps 8, Baptiste 4, Thomas 12, Bote 4

NORTHSIDE CHRISTIAN 69: Daniel Lubamba 13, Mitchell 9, Tubbs 9, Chapin 5, Jamison 6, Mattocks 8, Pierce 5, Antonio Perkins 11, Goudelock 3

LIBERTY HEIGHTS 79, BULL CITY NATIONAL 53

Liberty Heights 35 44 — 79

Bull City National 18 35 —- 53

LIBERTY HEIGHTS 79:- Jamison 6, Eric Morgan Jr. 14, Ausar 9, Demary Jr 7, Ryan Prather 10, McDonald 7, Cinque Lemon 15, Ince 1, Charles McClenahan 10

BULL CITY NATIONAL 59: Cedric Patterson 10, Mazi Jackson 14, Treyvon Byrd 10, Shawn Wilson 12, Driver 3, Lynch 4

WESTMINSTER CATAWBA 72, WAYNE COUNTRY DAY 55

WESTMINSTER CATAWBA 72: Petiote 5, MJ Collins 18, Richard Black III 16, Derek Bradley 20, Rogers 4, Booker 6

WAYNE COUNTRY DAY 55: Jordan Cooper 14, Collin Tanner 25, Wiliams 4, Waller 6, Vazquez 7

Friday’s area summaries

GASTON DAY 74, HICKORY CHRISTIAN 38

Gaston Day 11 18 21 24 — 74

Hickory Christian 10 11 6 11 — 38

Gaston Day Scoring: Chris Britt 24, Evan Montanari 23, Callum Richard 13, Chase Owens 6, Colin Fayed 3, Jack Horgan 3, Deshawn Coulter 2

Hickory Christian Scoring: Dillingham 13, Maxy 9, Ikard 8, Jones 4, Robinson 4

Gaston Day Record: 2-0

Next Game: Tuesday, 11/16 @ Statesville Christian 7pm

UNITED FAITH GIRLS 35, CORVIAN 30

UFCA 1Q 5 2Q 9 3Q 11 4Q 10

Corvian 1Q 9 2Q 12 3Q 2 4Q 7Final

UFCA -- Camryn Williams 18 Parascand 8 Sharp 5 Galloway 2 Caldwell 2

Corvian -- Bell Brennaman 12 Slandiford 6 Coleman 4 Daniels 2 Taylor 2 Dulale 2 Wheatley 2

Saturday’s schedule at Carmel Christian

Concord Academy vs. Wayne Country Day, noon

Legion Collegiate vs Liberty Heights, 1:30

Cannon vs. Northside Christian, 3

Moravian Prep vs Winston-Salem Christian, 4:30

Greensboro Day vs. Oak Hill, 6

Combine Academy vs. NC Good Better Best, 7:30

Carmel Christian vs. Westminster Catawba, 9

This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 11:41 PM.