Times Set for State Tournament

The game times have been set for the NCHEAC State Tournament. The New Life Storm will be playing Surry Homeschool of Mt. Airy, the West Region champion, at 8:00PM on Friday, Feb. 27. If the Storm wins this game, they will play for the state championship at 5:30PM Saturday (2/28) . If the Storm loses to Surry, they will play in the consolation game at 11:30AM Saturday (2/28). All of the games will be played at Greensboro College.

NCHEAC East Regional

Lighthouse Eagles 39 NLC Storm 35

It is tough to beat a team 4 times in a season, as the New Life Storm found out in losing to the Lighthouse Eagles in the East Region post-season conference tournament. The Eagles used their size advantage effectively, concentrating on pushing the ball inside and getting a large number of points from offensive rebounds. The Storm struggled to hit from outside, missing their first 15 3-point attempts of the game. Lighthouse shut down the Storm transition game, and the good ball movement that has characterized the Storm team on their recent win streak was not present as the team posted a season-low 3 assists. Despite one of their lowest-scoring halves of the season, the Storm was down by only 3 points at halftime at 16-13. The scoring struggles continued in the second half, though, and Lighthouse extended the lead. The Storm fought back in the 4th quarter and cut the lead to 4 on back-to-back breakaways by Daryl, but would get no closer this time. Daryl had a double-double, leading the team with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Shelby also pulled down 11 rebounds.

Despite the loss, the Storm will still compete for the state homeschool championship in the NCHEAC State Tournament in Greensboro next weekend as the #2 seed from the East Region.

Regular Season Finale

NLC Storm 56 Kestrel Heights Hawks 32

The New Life Storm ended the regular season right where they started, with an easy road win over the Hawks of Kestrel Heights Charter School in Durham. The Storm started the game with a strong defensive effort, holding the Hawks to only 1 point in the entire first quarter. The offense was a bit slower to get rolling as the Storm took and missed a series of quick outside jump shots. Midway through the first period, the Storm offense got going and New Life Camp ended the quarter up 17-1. The lead hit 20 in the second period and the Storm was never seriously threatened again. The Storm never led by less than 14 the rest of the way and the margin exceeded 30 at times in the second half as the entire Storm roster was able to see ample playing time. Hannah Grace led the Storm in scoring with 16 points, while Anna had 10. Daryl pulled down 10 rebounds.

The Storm finishes the regular season with a record of 14-6. Next up, they move on to tournament play, beginning with facing the Lighthouse Eagles in the NCHE Regional Tournament in Wake Forest on Saturday.

Senior Night

NLC Storm 54 Masonic Home Red Devils 35

The New Life Storm celebrated Senior Night in style with a 54-35 win over the Lady Red Devils of the Masonic Children's Home. The Storm got off to a blazing start in this game. Rebecca got a layup off the opening tip to give the Storm the lead. Three quick 3-pointers from Hannah Grace and two by Rebecca, mixed with several fast-breaks resulting from steals, put the Storm ahead 25-5 at the end of the first quarter. This was the highest-scoring quarter for the Storm since the Trinity Academy game in early December. The lead grew to as high as 33 points early in the second half before a late flurry of points by the Red Devils in the 4th quarter. Everyone scored at least 2 points for the Storm, led by Hannah Grace and Rebecca with 13 and 12 points, respectively. Ryan led in rebounds with 9.

This was the last home game for Ryan, who was honored in a ceremony at halftime. Her leadership and her play on the court will be missed as she moves on to college next year.

Storm vs. Christian Faith (III)

NLC Storm 57 Christian Faith Center Conquerors 52

The New Life Storm won the rubber match with Christian Faith Center Academy Tuesday night, beating the Lady Conquerors 57-52 in Creedmoor for their 2nd victory in 3 games between the two teams. The Storm never trailed in the game. They came out attacking and jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes of the game. The lead was double-figures for much of the 2nd and 3rd quarters before Christian Faith made a run at them. NLC had held Conquerors' star Anastasia Tuset in check with double-teaming and good help defense but in the 4th quarter she led a comeback to cut the lead to 5 with four minutes remaining. Courtney then hit two big shots to stretch the lead back out to 9. The Conquerors later cut the lead to 4 twice in the last 2 minutes before FTs from Anna and Hannah Grace sealed the win. Anna led the scoring with 19 points and Daryl pulled down 15 rebounds.

Storm vs. Lighthouse

NLC Storm 58 Lighthouse Eagles 56

The New Life Storm earned their 3rd win of the season over the Lighthouse Homeschool Eagles with an exciting 2nd half comeback Friday night at New Life Camp. The Storm trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half, and were 9 points down at the beginning of the 4th quarter, before outscoring the Eagles 22-11 in the final period to pull out the win. Georgia hit two 3-pointers to spark the comeback and swing the momentum to the Storm, then the whole team really stepped up down the stretch. With the score tied and 14 seconds remaining, Hannah Grace was fouled on a 3-pointer. She hit one free throw to give the Storm the lead. At the other end, Shelby blocked a Lighthouse 3-pointer, and Rebecca hit a FT for the final margin. Hannah Grace led in scoring and rebounding with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Rebecca finished with 11 points and 7 steals, and Anna and Georgia also hit double-figures with 10 points each.

Storm vs. Grace Christian

NLC Storm 51 Grace Christian School Eagles 43

The New Life Storm came from behind in the 4th quarter to defeat Grace Christian by a score of 51-43 at Grace Christian in Cary. The Storm trailed by 2 going into the 4th quarter, but outscored the Eagles 18-8 in the final period to secure the victory, the 3rd consecutive win for the Storm. Anna led the scoring for NLC with 14 points and Daryl led in rebounding with 10 boards.