By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore. The Crosshill Christian Boys Basketball team has had a weird run of coming back from deficits as of late.
Monday, they came back from 11 down against Santiam. Friday afternoon, they came back again from a double-digit deficit. A 16-point deficit this time around against Amity in the semi-final round of the Crusader Classic Green Bracket.
Midway through the third quarter, the Warriors led 45-29 over the Eagles. All the momentum was in favor of Amity until Crosshill once again flipped that switch and once again began to chip away at the deficit. Eventually, tying things up at 55 with three seconds remaining to force their second overtime game of the week.
It was grit and heart that they showed in the game points Crosshill Christian Head Coach Brian Spaulding.
“The guys showed it today, and they battled back. We chipped away little bits at a time. It easy great to see them play with that kind of heart and know that no lead is too big. They got after it, and I’m proud of the guys of how they came back,” said Spaulding.
It was a disheartening with how the game was slowly looking for Amity to close out regulation and seeing their lead disappear has it had, but they came together there going into overtime. They slowly began to rebuild their lead at the free throw line and would overcome their slump to finish the second half to win 67-62.
“It shows a lot of grit and trust in each other,” said Khalil Mirza. “Just being prepared, locked in for the whole game, and having trust in one another. I think that’s what helped us today, just having that trust in one another and being locked in. “
The Warriors will play the winner of Salem Academy-Country Christian for the bracket championship at 8 pm in the main gym at Salem Academy. The Eagles play the loser of that game at 10:30 am, also in the main gym.
Miles Lute scored a game-high 30 points. Con Coelho and Austin Carrasco each led the Warriors with 18 points.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
