In a nail-biting overtime this past Tuesday, the Tigers fought hard to claw their way back to the top, but in the end, the Eagles narrowly took the Regional Quarterfinal title.
“Being down 19 points at one point in the second half, this team demonstrated their desire to win by fighting back and taking a lead, but we just couldn’t close it out,” said Head Boys Basketball Coach Paul Page. “It was difficult to have our special season end in the Regional Quarterfinals for the fifth year in a row, but we are so proud of the way our team represented our program, school, and community throughout the entire season.”
Faced with challenges early in the season, the Boys showed tremendous perseverance and finished their season with a 9-1 district record, and 28-6 overall. During their successful season, the team racked up championship titles and were named the Gene Messer Classic Champions, C.W. Jackson Lions Club Tournament Champions, District Champions for a fourth consecutive year, Bi-District Champions, and Area Champions. For the first time ever at the 6A level, the Tigers competed in the Championship Basketball, Inc. Tournament.
“This team had to go through huge set back with the loss of Patton Pinkins early in the season, but they found a way to handle that adversity and continued to work toward having another special season as they secured our 4th District 2-6A Championship in a row,” said Page. “We really wanted one more win that would have put us in the Regional Tournament for the first time in school history at the 6A level, but coming up that short on Tuesday night, will just fuel the hunger to reach that point next year by our great group of returning players.”
The season was also marked with many individual accolades with players earning nearly 20 2-6A District awards, including Coach Paul Page being named the 2-6A District Coach of the Year.
All-District Awards:
- Coach of the Year: Paul Page
- Co-Player of the Year: Chase Campbell
- Co-Defensive Player of the Year: Daniel Gedeon
- 1st Team All-District: Armani Gacanica, Jakari Davis, Holden Phillips
- 2nd Team All-District: Leyton Stone
- Honorable Mention All-District: Javyn Davis Jr.
- Academic All-District: Chase Campbell, Hayden Wilson, Athen Narvais, Patton Pinkins, Holden Phillips, Leyton Stone, Trey DeLavan, Mason Kearns, Bailey Scully, Laynie Thomas