Christian Academy Defeats Borden, And Wins Back-To-Back Sectional Championships

On Saturday, March 8, the Christian Academy Warriors faced off against the Borden Braves for the Class 1A Sectional 63 Championship. The Braves would score four points within the first thirty seconds of the ball game, but then no one would score for the next three minutes. The Warriors would go on a five to zero run to take their first lead of the game with 3:36 left in the first quarter. Joshua Renfro would score a lay-up at the 2:30 mark to score his 2,000 career point. The Warriors would have a 10-7 lead with one minute to go in the quarter and would lead the game 10-9 to start the second quarter. Both teams would start off slow in the second quarter, as it would take almost three minutes before a team would score. The Warriors would have the only field goal half-way through the second quarter and led the game 13-10 with three minutes to play in the first half. The Braves would play excellent defense as the first half winded down, but they would also turn the ball over in back-to-back possessions with two minutes left until halftime. The game was tied at 13 with seven seconds left, but Joshua Chancey would hit a last second layup to give the Warriors a 15-13 lead to end the first half. Doc Nash would call a quick time-out for the Braves as Renfro would hit a three for the Warriors to extend their lead to 18-13 with seven minutes left to play in the third quarter. The Braves would go on a four to zero run with 4:30 left in the third quarter to trail the game 20-19, but then Renfro would hit a big three to extend the Warriors lead to 23-19. Hayden Casey would call a time-out and Noah Vance would hit a big three pointer to help the Warriors gain a 26-19 lead with 3:44 left in the third quarter. The Braves would end the third quarter on a four to zero run, but would still trail the game 26-23 to start the fourth quarter. The Warriors would start the fourth quarter with a six to zero run to lead the game 32-23 with 5:30 left to go in the fourth quarter. The Braves would go on a 7-2 run to trail the game 34-30 with 2:40 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Warriors would respond with a five to zero run to extend their lead to 39-30 with 1:56 left to play in the fourth quarter. Coach Casey would call a time-out with 1:27 left in the fourth quarter as his team would be leading the game 41-32. The Warriors would be able to close out the game and win the Sectional Championship by a score of 48-35. Here is what Renfro said about winning back-to-back sectional championships, “honestly, last year felt great, but this one feels better. It feels so good as a senior to go out as sectional champs. Last year we got a little satisfied with just the sectional. So, we are going to keep it going and not take advantage of this opportunity.” Here is what David Cook said about winning back-to-back sectional championships, “It feels absolutely surreal. I don't care if you win 18 or 19 times in a row. Every time you get here it is so hard to win. I loved the way that we responded and I give a lot of credit to Borden as they are really well coached.” Here is what Hayden Casey said, “We told our guys not to take things for granted. That is something that I did as a young coach very early. I got the job when I was 25 and went to back to back championships and you think it just going to happen. We were here two years ago and got bounced in the first round. To win it last year was to really appreciate it and to do it again really means more than what I can put into words. This championship has nothing to do with me. It is all about the guys that get to cut down nets tonight.” The Warriors were led by Renfro, as he scored 18 points in the game and the Braves were led by Wyatt Jones as he scored 16 points. Here is the rest of the scoring for both teams. 

Borden: Zander Keith 1, Judd Missi 5, Garrett Schmidt 11, and Gavin Scheich 2

CAI: Cooper Losey 3, Elijah Logsdon 6, Joshua Chancey 5, and Noah Vance  

Here is what Coach Doc Nash said about the loss, “I think we did a good job defensively, but we just gave them a few more chances offensively. You are not going to beat a really good team by giving up offensive rebounds. We got really good looks, but the ball just didn't go in tonight. The better team won. Christian Academy was better than us. They have a great one and two punch and their role players are terrific. I am not into moral victories and never will be. I do think our team played with a lot of heart and never gave up”