Fresno Christian has become very accustomed to late-game heroics. The Eagles, who came up with a series of close wins during their playoff run in recent weeks, once again showed off their latest clutch performance in the Division 4 SoCal Regional Final against Granada Hills Charter on Tuesday night.
It was a slow start for Fresno Christian as they struggled to hit shots early in the game and trailed by 11 points in the first half. But the Eagles have proven multiple times that they don’t give up. And that’s exactly what they showed again on Tuesday as they made a ferocious second-half comeback in front of their raucous crowd to set up a wild finish.
“We’ve always been down,” junior Noah Coulton said. “Every playoff game we’ve been down by 11 or more and we just came back. I love this team. I’ll go to war with them anyday.”
With the game tied in the final seconds of the regional final, Coulton went up for a shot and earned himself a trip to the free throw line for two attempts. The first free throw, however, wouldn’t drop for the junior. It was a different story on the second free throw when Coulton calmly put it through to give his team a 50-49 lead.
With four seconds left, Granada Hills had to go the length of the court for a chance to win the game. But the final shot wouldn’t fall for the visitors. And it was the home celebrating a trip to the state championship in Sacramento.
“I’m just so happy, full of joy,” senior Jeremiah Mason said. “Lets go to (Sacramento) and get this win.”
Like the rest of his teammates, Mason knew that his team would stay fighting to the end.
“We’re just staying poised when it’s a tight game,” he said. “We’ve been down every half in the state playoffs and still came back to win.”