Bethesda Christian School’s Cason Clagg made a free throw with 1.3 second left to give the Lions a 37-36 victory over Muenster Sacred Heart in the regional final Saturday night in Celina.
The Lions had to rally from a 5-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Bethesda held the Tigers scoreless over the final 4:30 of the game. Eli Own hit a three-pointer with 3:04 left in the game and Kevin Thornton, who led the Lions with 11 points, tied the game a 36-36 with 1:09 left in the game. Bethesda got a steal on Sacred Heart’s next possession the held the ball for more than 40 seconds.
Clagg got a pass in the right corner with about five seconds left and drove down the baseline and got fouled in the lane with 1.3 seconds to play. Clagg swished the first free throw to send Bethesda to the TAPPS 2A final four next week in Waco.
The Lions will play in the state semifinals at noon Wednesday against Abilene Christian School. The game will be played at University High School in Waco. Abilene Christian is ranked third in the state by the Texas Association of Basketball coaches, while Bethesda is ranked sixth. The other semifinal is between Dallas First Baptist Academy, ranked fifth, and unranked Legacy Christian Academy of Beaumont.
Bethesda led for much of the game against district opponent Sacred Heart. The teams had split the two district games, with each team winning at home.
The Lions opened up a 9-2 lead with 1:44 left in the first half, but Sacred Heart scored 5 points in the final 1:35 of the half to cut the lead to 9-7.
After Sacred Heart tied the score at 14-14, Bethesda outscored the Tigers 6-1 over the final 1:25 of the half to take a 20-15 halftime lead.
The game was tied 27-27 after three quarters, then Sacred Heart scored the first five points of the fourth quarter before the Lions made their comeback.
Kevin Thornton led Bethesda with 11 points, while Hanson Allen added 10 and Christian Blackwell had 9. Owen finished with 4 points and Clagg had three points.
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