The game clock on the scoreboard slowly ticks away, and as it reaches single digits, students begin to shout in unison: “Five! Four! Three! Two! One!” With these cries of jubilation, the varsity boys’ top-seeded basketball team defeats the No. 3-seeded Tranquillity Tigers, 74-53, at the Selland Arena, March 4.

This victory marks the end of the Division V Valley Championship and, with it, the first time since 1997 that the Fresno Christian varsity boys’ basketball team has succeeded in taking home the title of California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Central Section DV Champions.

The Eagles secured an early lead in the first quarter and picked up momentum throughout the game, eventually giving them a cushion of over 20 points for the entire last half.

After playing for a large portion of the game, sustaining an injury he eventually recovered from and procuring 21 points, junior Brady Lee was given the award for Most Valuable Player for the game.

“It [winning] feels awesome,” Lee said. “I just have to give the glory to God because he blessed me with a great game. I also want to thank my team for playing so hard and my coaches for leading us all season.”

Although his team won, coach Josh Justin admits that he was anxious during the first few minutes of the game due to mistakes the team was making.

“I was a little nervous [at the beginning of the game], but then I saw how Brady and Ryan [Neufeld] responded [to team mistakes] — Chandler [Vargas] as well, as he’s been sick the last couple of days — and those three responded really well and kind of picked up the slack,” Justin said.

Despite the slow start, the boys were able to turn it around and pick up their pace, which boosted Justin’s confidence.

“They turned the game into a fast-paced game, which definitely favored us because we are a transition team,” Justin said. “When we got that game going up and down, I was pretty confident it’d be our game.”

With the completion of the DV Championship, Justin and the Eagles will be looking at the state playoffs. Justin says the one thing he really wanted to get out of the championship was experience in high-stakes games.

“Hopefully [what we get out of this] is to get the nerves out,” Justin said. “We were definitely real jittery right off the bat today, so hopefully when we get to state playoffs, we won’t be like that, but be a little more experienced because we’ve been in that kind of situation now.”

Attendees experience campus history

As one of the many people in attendance, Principal Todd Bennett recognizes the effort that both the coaches and the team put forth in the game.

“Coach Justin is to be commended for achieving a Valley championship his first year as a head coach,” Bennett said. “This is very exciting for FCS. A school our size rarely wins a Valley championship. It is a testament to hard work and believing that no obstacle is too large when a team works together and hands it all over to the Lord.?

Several students journeyed to Selland in order to support their classmates, toting signs, face and body paint and a 10-foot FC flag. Senior Emily Schoettler, who was in attendance, says that the team’s win assists in imprinting her and other students in campus history.

“I think that at the beginning they were kind of nervous, but at the end they built up their confidence and started playing their game and did really well,” Schoettler said. “I think it’s so cool that I’m part of such a memory. It’s been so long since we’ve won a Valley championship.”

In addition to current FC students, the game hosted many alumni and even students from other schools. Mike Wilson, a senior at Clovis North, left FC at the end of the 2006-07 school year, but traveled to Selland for the special event.

“This team means a lot to me and this school means a lot to me. I had a lot of great memories here,” Wilson said. “This game is a true underdog story. The smaller team atmosphere is like a family, so much that you almost feel like one of the players.”

Upcoming game, future prospects

While the Eagles won the championship, they are 11-17 overall and 1-7 in the West Sequoia League, as of March 4. Although this record disappointed Justin for a time, he knows that each game his team lost was close, and with all junior starters, this sets the team up for next year.

“It was definitely discouraging for a while, but the nice thing I really like watching in leagues is that, other than two games, we could have won every single one of those games,” Justin said. “Every single one was a three-, four- or five-point game that we could have won, and those types of games — when you start juniors — you might not get them now. But next year, they’ll have that experience of close games and they’ll be able to get them.”

The Eagles have finished league play and will play a state playoff game at home, March 8. Their opponent is yet to be determined. A full-scale version of the 2011 CIF Central Section Division V Playoff bracket is available here.

Although this was the boys’ basketball program’s first Valley championship since 1997, the girls’ basketball team has a history of making it to the championship game and won the title last year. However, this year the lady Eagles were eliminated in the third round of Division IV playoffs.

For more information on boys’ basketball, read the March 3 article, Senior companions lead team to playoffs, or the Boys’ basketball sport shorts, 2010-11, Part II. One can also watch KMPH Fox 26’s short video, Day 1 of Section Titles at Selland Arena.

Austin Ward, Sean Carter, Ashley Ward and Mary Hierholzer also contributed to this article.

Tweet