Josh Conrad
As the top seed and host of this weekend’s Southern Roads Conference boys basketball tournament, Columbus Christian entered with high hopes of capturing the title.
Those hopes ended after a 68-53 loss to Medora in the Saturday’s semifinals. The Crusaders, however, bounced back with a 55-48 win against Christian Academy of Madison in the third-place game.
Columbus Christian led Medora 27-23 at halftime in the semifinal before being outscored 45-26 in the second half.
“If we’d have been patient and ran our offense and got some looks, we’d have been playing (in the championship) instead of for third-place,” Columbus Christian coach Kevin Roth said. “(Point guard) Cam (Pritchard) got hurt this morning in the first quarter, which kind of killed the momentum we had going.”
Pritchard already had scored 12 points. Josh Conrad led the Cusaders with 13, while Branson Carr had nine and Peyton Walden added eight.
In the third place game, Columbus Christian led 51-28 with 6 minutes remaining when Roth pulled his starters. With 1:45 left, Christian Academy had cut the lead to 51-42. But Levi Johnson made a couple of baskets to allow the Crusaders to hold on for the win.
Conrad led Columbus Christian with 15 points and nine rebounds.
“We definitely played as a team,” Conrad said. “The first game, we were all tired, but we went into this game thinking we could beat them. The second game, we bounced back. We ll played as a team for sure.”
Walden had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Jayden Howe scored 10 points. Pritchard and Carr each added eight points and six rebounds for the Crusaders, who outrebounded the Defenders 45-25.
“I felt like we had some good play,” Roth said. “I thought we did a real good job on the defensive glass and even on the offensive glass to get some easy baskets.”
Medora 68, Columbus Christian 53
Medora;9;14;21;24;—;68
Columbus Christian;11;16;11;15;—;53
Medora (5-7): Damian Salas 2 0-0 5, Eli Lane 3 0-0 6, Hudson Johnson 4 1-2 10, Jaxon Nugen 5 3-7 17, Kade Wright 4 2-3 10, Dawson Cornett 9 1-2 20, Kacie Inscoe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 7-14 68.
Columbus Christian (8-8): Adam Haines 0 1-2 1, Jayden Howe 1 3-7 6, Cam Pritchard 5 0-0 12, Cannon Carr 1 0-0 2, Josh Conrad 4 4-4 13, Peyton Walden 3 2-4 8, Branson Carr 3 3-5 9, Heath Harrison 0 2-2 2. Totals: 17 15-24 53.
3-point goals: Medora 7 (Nugen 4, Salas, Johnson, Cornett); Columbus Christian 6 (Conrad 3, Pritchard 2, J. Howe).
Columbus Christian 55, Christian Academy of Madison 48
Christian Academy;7;11;6;24;—;48
Columbus Christian;13;12;21;9;—;55
Christian Academy of Madison: Ethan Pettit 2 0-2 5, Elijah Kummer 5 2-4 12, Luke Renfro 0 0-0 0, Conner Hostetter 3 2-3 8, Dean Coulter 6 0-1 12, Silas Gamble 0 2-3 2, Asher Gamble 0 0-0 0, Micah Kummer 3 0-0 6, Isaac Grubbs 0 1-2 1. Totals: 19 9-19 48.
Columbus Christian (9-8): Haines 0 0-0 0, J. Howe 4 1-2 10, Levi Johnson 2 0-0 4, Pritchard 4 0-0 8, Brian Fox 0 0-0 0, Brayden Howe 0 0-2 0, Ben Halsey 0 0-0 0, C. Carr 0 0-0 0, Conrad 6 3-4 15, Walden 4 2-6 10, B. Carr 4 0-0 8, Elijah Fields 0 0-0 0, Heath Harrison 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 6-14 55.
3-point goals: Christian Academy of Madison 1 (Pettit); Columbus Christian 1 (J. Howe).
