It was a historic evening for the Heritage Christian Academy Warriors. They were making their first appearance in a championship game of an All A Classic regional event in just their second year of competition. The problem was on the other side of the court, they were facing a team that regularly expects to be cutting down the nets at the end of the boys’ 2nd Region All A Classic, the University Heights Academy Blazers.
After not reaching the finals for the past two seasons, the Blazers were in no mood to dilly-dally or play extra nice with their private school neighbors from across town, first-time appearance in the title game or not. The Blazers used runs of 12-0 and 17-0 in the opening half to seize control of the game and run away to a 72-35 win and advance on to Richmond.
Heritage Christian took the first lead in the game on a basket by Manny Diaz. The lead would be short-lived and so would be the Warriors’ chances in the game.
UHA scored five quick points to go up 5-2. After a made free throw from HCA’s Carlos Robles, the wheels came off the wagon for the Warriors.
The Blazers unleashed their fullcourt pressure, and to say the Warriors had trouble with it would be a bit of an understatement. UHA was able to force turnovers and convert them into fast-break baskets. Plus, HCA’s defensive plan of playing zone quickly came under fire as the Blazers heated up from behind the line.
With the score at 5-3, UHA scored 12 straight to go up 17-3. After four quick points from HCA trimmed the lead to ten at 17-7, the Blazers unleashed the knockout blow. With their pressure defense lighting the way, UHA scored the last five points of the opening quarter to make it 22-7.
The run continued at the start of the second with the Blazers scoring the first 12 of the quarter to complete a 17-0 run and blow the lead out to 34-7. The biggest problem for the Blazers in the opening half was foul trouble, which kept the margin from being even bigger at the break. By halftime, UHA was up 43-14 and Blazer fans could begin to think about making their hotel reservations along the Bypass just down the road from EKU’s McBrayer Arena.
Everyone was getting involved for University Heights in the first half as ten different Blazers found the scoring column.
Not much changed as the teams came out of the locker room for the second half. UHA unleashed another run, this time 10-0 as the lead grew from 47-18 to 57-18 and the running clock came into play for the remainder of the game. As was the case in the first half, the Blazers still had some foul issues, which gave the Warriors some chances at the line, but that was about the only fault one could find with the Blazers’ performance. The third quarter ended with UHA up 62-24.
Blazer reserves would finish out the game as UHA ended their two-year All A state drought with the 37-point win.
Twelve Blazers registered in the scoring column led by Lemar Northington with 19 points. Quinton Quarles also hit double figures with 10. Javion Brown just missed double figures with 9 points in the game.
Heritage Christian was led by Carlos Robles with 12 points. However, Robles only had one field goal in the game. Jason Leek ended up with 11 points for the Warriors.
UHA improves to 9-6 with the win. The Blazers will now make their 26th appearance in the All A Classic state tournament. They will take on Raceland, the winner of the 16th Region, on Thursday, January 26th in the 8pm game at McBrayer Arena.
Heritage Christian falls to 13-12 with the loss.
HCA – 7 7 10 11 — 35
UHA – 22 21 19 10 — 72
Heritage Christian – Robles 12, Leek 11, Diaz 5, Wells 3, Fowler 2, Gibson 2
University Heights – L. Northington 19, Quarles 10, J. Brown 9, Grubbs 7, Baker 6, Walton 4, Wallace 4, C. Brown 3, Thomas 3, Hauret 3, B. Northington 3, George 1