Christopher rode the hot hand of Chad Hartman to complete a 10-point comeback to defeat Hillsdale 64-51 and advance to the championship game at the Bulldog Chase Friday.
Hartman had 16-fourth-quarter points, including shooting 10 of 12 from the line to help clinch the Cougars’ comeback effort.
“He’s a junior, he’s one of our leaders. Our point guard strained his shoulder last game — Adam Bravo — and Chad had to step up and fulfill a lot of those duties and hit free throws at the end to put the game away,” said Christopher coach Eric Davis.
Hartman went 14-16 from the line for the game.
He finished with 23 points to lead all shooters and was a rebound shy of a double-double, pulling down a game-leading nine.
The Cougars also had strong nights from Shane Suttle and Josh Wheat, who had 17 and 16 points, respectively.
Christopher shooters for the game were 25 of 34 from the line for the night.
Davis said the win was the first time this season Christopher had to come from behind late and he had to do it with some young faces on the squad.
“We have a lot of injuries. We have four starters out, so we had to bring up JV guys and they had some big minutes for us,” Davis said.
And some of the biggest minutes from a junior varsity player came from Xander Bowers.
He tied Hartman for the game lead in rebounds with nine, seven of those came in the second half and one of those rebound helped swing the game for Christopher.
Still trailing by two late in the third quarter after a 10-2 scoring run, Suttles came to the line for a three-point play. His shot missed, but Bowers came charging into the paint, leapt for the rebound and sank the bucket to tie the game at 46-all as time expired.
“He just brings us energy and has a good nose for the ball,” Davis said. “He has a lot to learn, but he can be a special player. He has a lot of potential.”
Christopher’s run started early on in the third quarter, when Hillsdale hit a bucket to take a 10-point lead.
The Knights kept that margin, going up 44-34 when Christopher hit its stride.
Davis said at the half with the team trailing by eight, the coaches stressed that the game was not out of reach, all the Cougars needed to do was cut into the lead little-by-little then go for the jugular.
“We just calmed our guys down and said, “They’re not going to be hitting those shots in the second half. They made their run and we’ll make ours and you guys need to be in a position that when you do make the run, you can then compete,’” Davis said.
Hartman, Suttles and Wheat all hit key shots in the 12-2 run put the team in position for a fourth-quarter win.
When Bowers hit his put-back shot, it sparked a fourth-quarter run that held Hillsdale to five points in the final frame.
Hartman got things rolling with a 3-pointer to open the quarter and give Christopher its first lead since the first quarter.
He had all but two of the points Christopher scored in the quarter. The other two were free throws from Suttle and Wheat.
Hillsdale looked to have a strong command on the game early, overcoming first-quarter 8-4 deficit to take a 19-18 lead heading into the second.
From there, the Knights went on an 18-11 run for an eight-point halftime lead.
Christopher will now advance to play Brookside Christian 7:30 p.m. Saturday for the Championship.
Brookside defeated host Sobrato 61-51.
Hillsdale will take on Sobrato 6 p.m. Saturday in the third place game.
