They say it’s hard to beat a basketball team six times in a season. Well, actually they don’t but Heritage Christian Academy can now claim that feat.
The Warriors rallied to beat Oak Ridge Christian 55-45 Saturday afternoon to advance to the championship game of the KCAA State Tournament in Nicholasville.
It was the sixth time the region rivals had met – three of those in various holiday tournaments and one at last week’s super-region.
Heritage Christian Academy, the tournament’s No. 2 seed, will play top seed Galilean in the championship game Saturday night.
The semifinal game was a close one, featuring six ties and six lead changes. The 10-point margin of victory was HCA’s largest of the day.
Heritage Christian led 24-20 on a Jason Leek 3-pointer just before halftime and took a 24-21 advantage into intermission.
However, Oak Ridge had something for HCA in the third quarter as they took their first lead since the first quarter at 35-32 with 1:22 left.
HCA responded with a Weston Powell 3-pointer from the corner and a Zane Yates put back off a missed shot to give Heritage a 37-35 lead heading into the final quarter.
Yates added five more points on a 3-pointer and shot in the paint to complete the 8-2 run and put HCA up 40-35 early in the quarter.
Oak Ridge would twice cut the HCA lead to one point, the last time at 46-45 with 2:02 remaining.
Carlos Robles had put back baskets on consecutive possessions to give HCA a 50-45 cushion with 1:24 left. Yates and Leek combined to hit three of four free throws in the final minute for the final margin.
Yates finished with 16 points, and Leek came off the bench to score nine in just seven minutes of action. Robles added eight points and eight rebounds, and Hayes finished with nine points and six steals.
HCA shot 39-percent from the field and outrebounded Oak Ridge 32-30. They also scored 15 points off 15 turnovers while committing just nine themselves.
HCA will carry a 26-10 record into Saturday night’s championship game.
Oak Ridge Christian 6 15 14 10– 45
Heritage Christian 9 15 13 18– 55
Oak Ridge – J. Meredith 11, E. Meredith 10, Mason 8, Bastin 7, Oaks 6, Hampton 3
Heritage Christian [26-10] – Yates 16, Hayes 9, Leek 9, Robles 8, Powell 6, Gibson 5, Folz 2
