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The boys' basketball team of Grace Baptist Christian Academy of Attleboro placed second recently in the annual Massachusetts Association of Christian Schools championship playoffs after bowing to Open Bible Christian School of Woburn, 60-51, in the title contest played in Lunenburg.

After easily defeating New England Baptist Academy of West Bridgewater, 62-39, in its semifinal-round match-up, GBCA fell victim to a hot-shooting performance by Open Bible, which led by margins of 16-11, 30-20, and 39-31 at the period breaks.

"Open Bible shot very well and hit tough shots during the whole game," said GBCA Coach Jeff Nichols. "They got ahead of us early and we never caught up."

The Centurions were paced by sophomore center Adam Bailey, who
shrugged off a broken bone in his left hand to score a team-high 14 points.
Teammates Josh Hulme (12) and Tim Yoakum (10) also ended in double figures for Grace Baptist, while Alex Reichert chipped in with eight points.

The loss was especially disappointing for the Centurions, who entered the playoffs as the top seed, including two regular-season triumphs over Open Bible.

"This one hurts," Nichols said. "We really thought we had a good chance to win the whole thing."

Open Bible now advances to the New England Association of Christian Schools regional tournament which will be played March 1 and 2, also in Lunenburg.

In its postseason opener, GBCA thrashed New England Baptist Academy thanks to a balanced scoring attack spearheaded by Reichert (15), Stephen Albro (11), Bailey (11), Hulme (10) and Yoakum (nine). The Centurions led at all the stops, 19-11, 37-19 and 50-31.

Later, GBCA concluded its 2007-08 campaign with a 12-7 mark after whipping First Baptist Christian School of Warwick, 43-19, in a non-league outing. The Centurions built a 23-13 advantage at the break and were never seriously threatened in the second half.

Yoakum and Hulme topped the winners with nine points apiece, while Reichert and Matt Dillon contributed six points each.

In the photo on the right, GBCA's Alex Reichert of Attleboro sinks a driving lay-up and is fouled in last week's non-league victory over First Baptist Christian School.