Heritage Christian Academy’s bid for its first KCAA state basketball championship in nine years fell just short Saturday as top-seeded Galilean Christian handed the Warriors a 54-41 loss in the title game.
Heritage Christian’s lone two losses in conference play this season came at the hands of the Casey County school that was playing a KCAA schedule for the first time in three seasons.
The first half featured three ties and one lead change as HCA held a precarious 22-20 lead at halftime.
In the second half, Galilean implemented a box-and-1 defense on HCA’s leading scorer Carlos Robles, who scored x points in the first half. Galilean scored the final four points of the third quarter and the first three of the fourth quarter to take its biggest lead of the game at 37-30.
It was a 6:21 stretch without a field goal that did the Warriors in as Galilean’s lead ballooned to 41-31 with 6:08 left. Heritage would get as close as 43-36 with 2:14 left but Galilean would get run-out layups on its next three possessions to extend its lead. The final 13-point margin was their largest of the game.
Galilean hit 8 of 11 shots in the fourth quarter and 13 of 22 in the second half.
Robles, who scored 10 points in the first half, was held to just two points in the second half.
With Galilean’s defense focusing on stopping Robles in the second half, HCA Coach Matt McGowan inserted backup point guard Jason Leek who scored eight points. Weston Powell added five points and a team-high 10 rebounds.
Heritage was outrebounded by Galilean 30-28 and shot just 27-percent for the game [13/48].
Galilean, who finishes with a 30-5 record, put three players in double figures led by sophomore Phillips Dawkins’ 17 points. The Eagles have just one senior on its roster and he didn’t play Saturday night.
Heritage Christian was playing in the championship game for the first time in two seasons and was looking for the school’s first title since 2013. The Warriors finished 26-11.
Heritage Christian 10 12 8 11– 41
Galilean Christian 14 6 14 20– 54
Heritage Christian [26-11] – Robles 12, Leek 8, Hayes 6, Powell 5, Folz 4, Yates 4, Gibson 2
Galilean Christian [30-5] – Dawkins 17, Stubbs 15, Fisher 14, Clark 6, Henfield 2
