Cannon downs Downey Christian 66-60 to take 7th in David West Bracket

By: Zachary Adams

12/29/18

RALEIGH, NC -- With Jarius Hamilton and Qon Murphy both moving on to play Division-1 basketball, Cannon School was left with a huge scoring void. In came two freshmen by the name of DJ Nix and Jaden "Silk" Bradley. This morning, Nix and Bradley combined for 45 points in Cannon's 66-61 win over Downey Christian School to take seventh place in the David West Bracket.

Cannon School (11-7) were led by 6'5" freshman DJ Nix and his 23 points on 9 of 17 shooting from the field. Nix was also a force on the glass, as he grabbed a team-high six rebounds. Despite a limp, point guard Jaden Bradley poured in 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting from the field. The 6'2" freshman also dished out seven assists and grabbed five boards in this morning's game. Definitely a big day for the Cougars' fabulous freshmen.

Downey Christian School (8-9) lost their sixth straight game overall and their sixth straight Holiday Invitational game. Senior Eduardo Peralta owned the post for the Patriots today, scoring a team-high 20 points and grabbing seven boards. The YouTube sensation Julian Newman had his best shooting game of the tournament, going 4 of 13 from the field en route to his 17 points. Newman tallied four assists as well, but committed six turnovers. Emmanuel Maldanado's stellar tournament concluded with a 12 point performance. Maldanado left the game for a few minutes in the early in the foruth with a calf injury, but did return to finish the game.

Cannon led the entire game until until the 2:18 mark in the third quarter when Emmanuel Maldonado sunk his first of two threes in the game. The Downey Christian Patriots had the three point advantage going into the fourth, but just couldn't hold on. The Cougars outscored the Patriots 20-12 in the final quarter to put the ballgame away.

This was Cannon's third consecutive appearance in the Holiday Invitational. In 2016, the Cougars finished fourth, a school's best. Cannon finished in sixth in 2017 and seventh in this year. Downey Christian is the first team in Holiday Invitational history to go 0-6 in their school's first six games.

Cannon School will host United Faith Christian Academy in Concord next Friday, while Downey Christian will partake in the Grind Session Tournament in Kentucky next weekend.