Champion senior Owen Tate picked a great time to have his best game of the season, perhaps the best game of his Chargers career.
Tate helped lead Champion past Leander Glenn Tuesday night at Buda Johnson in the 2022 playoff opener for both teams.
Tate knocked down eight 3-pointers, one off the school record held by Nathan Ghavidel, and finished with 24 points as the Chargers defeated the Grizzlies, 67-59.
Champion is 29-6 overall and faces Jefferson Friday at Paul Taylor Field House, 6 p.m. in the second round. The Mustangs defeated Southwest Legacy in the first round on Monday, 76-47.
What made Tuesday’s victory even sweeter for Champion is that it was Glenn that knocked the Chargers out of the playoffs last year as the Grizzlies went on to win the region.
Chargers coach Chris Adamek said Tate made Glenn pay whenever they left him open on the 3-point line.
“He was fantastic and he played some good defense too. Owen was taking them out on the perimeter and he was making them pay for sagging in on Jesse (Peart) and Brax (Burdick),” Adamek said. “For him to hit eight 3s, that’s something he’ll remember forever. It was his biggest game at the biggest time.”
Champion built a double-digit lead but the Grizzlies rallied in the second half and cut it to a single point, however the Chargers pulled away, punctuated by a late Tate 3-pointer.
“We were dialed in during the first half, offensively and defensively, and we passed the ball well for some great shots,” Adamek said. “We scored 42 against a good defensive team in the first half. They came back like we knew like they would but we were able to handle it.”
Leading up to the game, Adamek said they talked about the fact that they were facing the team that knocked them out last year, but the coach added that it wasn’t about getting payback.
“It wasn’t about revenge but acknowledging the fact that we had feelings we had to deal with about how our season ended last year and what a rough ending that was,” he said. “As soon as we found out that we were matched up against them, we had several conversations about what to expect going into Tuesday’s game. It wasn’t revenge but we had to be real about it.”
Tate finished 8 for 14 from long range and led the team in scoring with 24 points, while three other Chargers were in double digits after Braden Baum hit a 3 and scored 13 points. Braxton Burdick and Jesse Peart both dropped in 12 and Charlie Georgelos added 6 points.
Baum grabbed 9 boards and Georgelos dished out 8 assists.
“It was a great win,” Adamek said. “It was a lot of fun and the guys really played well.”
Adamek said Jefferson will present a challenge.
“They have two 20-point scorers, one has scored 2,000 points in his career,” he said. “They remind me of some of my Harlandale teams, they’re tough, hard-nosed kids that can score.”
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