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EspañolWhen New Heights Christian Academy senior Cannon Miller was fouled with 15 seconds left — his team up by just a single point at 38-37 — Cougar head coach Stephen Harrel called a timeout. It was not to scratch out strategy or X’s and O’s on a dry erase board, but for prayer.
“You have to know where your help comes from,” Harrel said. “You have to know who your source is. In that moment, Brodrick Burns said, ‘Let’s pray,’ and I said, ‘That’s a great idea.’”
After the timeout Saturday night, Miller drilled both free throws to put his team up by 3 points at 40-37 and helped the Cougars secure their third straight Class 3 District 11 title, this time against the Pierce City Eagles (18-11) at the New Heights Christian Academy Athletic Complex.
“My team was praying for me in the huddle,” Miller said. “That helped a lot. I just didn’t want to let my team down.”
Harrel evoked the Holy Trinity when asked about the Cougars’ third straight district title.
“I feel like it was one for the Father, one for the Son and one for the Holy Spirit,” he said.
Miller talked about what the three-peat means for his team.
“It feels amazing, and I’m so proud of my team,” he said. “We had a legacy given to us, and we were able to carry it on.”
Teammate Ben Schumacher, who netted a 3-pointer late that put the Cougars up for good, also weighed in on the win.
“I feel good about the three-peat. It’s not something I thought would happen at the start of my high school career, but it’s been awesome, and I’m glad I got to do it with these guys.”
Points were hard to come by for both teams in the opening quarter. New Heights took its first lead of the game at 6-5 halfway through the period when Jadon Smith scored off a Burns turnover after a steal.
Pierce City regained the lead at 10-8 off a Cruz Torrez trey with 1:50 left, but Schumacher hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Cougars an 11-10 lead going into the second stanza.
Points were even more scarce in the second quarter. Pierce City took back the lead at 12-11 with a pair of Carter Witt free throws and held on for a 17-16 lead at the break.
The Cougars regained the lead at 21-19 off a Schumacher trey from the left corner with 6:25 left in the third.
The Eagles were able to tie the game twice in the third quarter, but New Heights went on a 7-0 run that was capped off by a Max Long putback that gave the Cougars a 31-24 lead with 2:10 left.
A Lincoln Jones 3-pointer from the left side of the arc pulled the Eagles within 3 points at 33-30 going into the final frame.
The Eagles took the lead back at 35-33 courtesy of an Eli Genzler score in the paint and a Dyllan Kleiboeker trey to open the fourth period, but Schumacher put the Cougars up for good with a trey from the right side that gave New Heights a 36-35 lead with 4:35 left.
Pierce City pared the lead to one at 38-37 with a Witt score off a steal, but Miller’s prowess at the line helped seal the win for the Cougars.
Adam Stanton led the Cougars with 11 points. Schumacher tallied 9, and Smith finished with 8.
Witt paced the Eagles with 8 points, and Genzler and Torres finished with 8 each.
“We took a bunch of shots that drove me crazy,” Harrel said. “I told them take care of the ball and we are in no rush. They are going to try and speed you up. We have the points. All you need to do is take care of it, and when they foul, you make the free throws. We took some quick shots, but in the end, thank God, our maturity played big and we got the stop that we needed.”
With the win, the Cougars (22-6) advance to play Skyline (18-9) in the first round of the Class 3 state tournament at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Stockton High School.
“That’s a good team,” Harrel said of Pierce City. “But we have bigger fish to fry. We’re not done. We want to make it all the way to state. That’s our prayer, and that’s the road we are going down.”