SAN ANTONIO – The best basketball season in Champion history came to a close last Thursday in the Alamodome at the 5A state tournament.
Champion took on Mansfield Timberview in the state semifinals and the Wolves overcame the Chargers, 55-43.
Champion ends the year at 33-7 and the 2022 Chargers were the first in the school to ever play at the state basketball tournament. Coach Chris Adamek said they left it all out there in the final game of the season.
“We competed well against a phenomenal Mansfield team,” Adamek said. “I couldn’t be prouder of the guys. We really played well.”
Champion certainly did play well and was up 13-11 at the end of the first quarter after they battled through nine ties or lead changes with the Wolves.
It wasn’t much different in the second quarter with seven ties or lead changes. The Chargers pulled ahead by five points twice in the second, once at 16-11, and the other time after a pair of 3-pointers from Braden Baum and Jesse Peart to make it 25-20 with 2:15 left until halftime.
The Wolves answered by scoring the final 8 points of the quarter and took a 28-25 lead into the break.
Baum had 15 of the team’s 25 points in the first half with 7 in the first and 8 in the second.
Champion scored the first 5 points of the third quarter with a pair of free throws from Braxton Burdick and a 3 from Owen Tate and the Chargers pulled ahead 30-28, but the Wolves went on a 16-2 run and took a 44-32 lead into the fourth quarter and never trailed from there.
Adamek said the Wolves’ ability to rebound and run the break hurt them.
“That’s the best transition team I’ve seen all year. That was the turning point, we tried to keep it a half-court game but we couldn’t,” he said. “We had a couple of turnovers and they were able to get out in transition and push the lead a little bit.”
Another factor for the Chargers was fatigue. Three starters played all 32 minutes and the other two only came out for two minutes. Adamek said it was a concern.
“We’ve had a shorter rotation all season, especially in the playoffs,” he said. “I just felt like we needed to stick with the starters and rest a little bit on offense, but it was in the back of my mind.”
Peart and Baum scored the first four points of the final stanza and the lead was down to single digits at 44-36. The Chargers cut it to 8 on three different occasions in the final period, once on a Baum 2-handed slam, but the Wolves were good at the free-throw line and went 5 for 7 in the fourth quarter, including four in a row to stay ahead and closed it out from there.
Seniors are Jesse Peart, Hunter Lampkin, Braxton Burdick, Luke Garver and Owen Tate.
Peart said he knows next year’s team can build on this season.
“They know they can get here,” he said. “We were the first, but it adds fuel to the fire for next year.”
Burdick said it was a great way to end his senior season.
“The experience was amazing,” he said. “We’re more than just a team, we’re a family and the bonds and relationship we’ve made is unforgettable.”
Baum said he’s looking forward to next season.
“We had a great team this year and I think we’ll have a great team again,” he said. “We just want to keep it rolling and keep it going.”
Baum led the team with 23 points, Burdick added 8, Peart had 7, Tate finished with 3 and Charlie Georgelos scored 2 as all five starters scored. Hunter Lampkin and Ryan Erdos were the only non-starters to get into the game.
Comment
Comments