18-point halftime deficit to stun Veterans Memorial
The Boerne Champion boys continue to be the hottest basketball team in District 26-5A and has reeled off eight straight wins since mid-January.
Champion’s last loss came on Jan. 13 against Veterans Memorial, and on Friday, the Chargers hosted the first-place Patriots and got a little revenge after overcoming an 18-point halftime deficit to win the game, 48-46.
The Chargers improved to 11-4 in 26-5A (24-9 overall) and closed out the regular season Tuesday at Smithson Valley before beginning the playoffs next week.
Veterans Memorial is still leading the district at 12-3, New Braunfels is in second at 12-4 and the Chargers (11-4) are in third. Alamo Heights locked up the final spot up for grabs (9-6).
If the Chargers won Tuesday at Smithson Valley, they would tie NB at 12-4 and move into second place since they swept the Unicorns this year.
Once the playoffs start, Champion and New Braunfels would go to the big school or 5A-D1 bracket and Alamo Heights and Veterans Memorial will go to the small school or 5A-DII bracket. The Chargers will be seeded higher than the Unicorns.
In last Friday’s game, Champion was down 18 points at halftime, 28-10, but the comeback began in the third quarter. The Chargers outscored the Patriots in the period, 22-14, and whittled the lead to 10 points at 42-32 by the time it went into the final stanza.
Travis Clark had a strong third quarter for the Chargers and tallied 10 of their 22 points. Clark continued to play well in the fourth period and scored 12 of their 16 points, while Gavin Peck had the other 4 points.
Peck’s 3-pointer in the period made it a 3-point game at 43-40 with 5:12 left. The Patriots went up by 5 at 45-40, but the Chargers scored the next five points to tie it at 45-45 after a 3 from Clark with 3:30 on the clock.
After a couple of misses by both teams, Clark hit a 2-point runner with 1:30 remaining for Champion’s first lead of the half at 47-45.
The Patriots went down the court and were fouled by the Chargers and went 1 for 2 at the line to make it 47-46 with 1:21 on the clock.
Veterans Memorial only had two team fouls at that point and started fouling to get five team fouls in the period and send the Chargers to the free-throw line to stop the clock.
The Chargers did a good job of playing keep-away, and the Patriots didn’t record their fifth foul until there was only 6.9 seconds on the clock. Peck was fouled and made his first free throw and missed the second for the 48-46 advantage.
Instead of calling a timeout to set up a play, the Patriots rebounded the missed free throw and pushed the ball up the court but never got off a shot before the final buzzer sounded, and the celebration began for the Chargers.
Clark finished with 25 points in the game and tallied 22 of them in the second half, while Peck scored 12 in the game and had 10 in the second half.
Nik Georgelos netted 4, Ryan Gallardo scored 3, while Gaege Hankins and Will Kliesing both chipped in with 2 points.
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