Horizon Christian School’s varsity basketball teams both claimed the honor of runner-up at the recent ICSGA (Interdenominational Christian Schools of Georgia-Alabama) 1A state tournament in Columbus.
The Lady Warriors went back and forth with Heritage Sharpsburg in a game where neither team ever held a lead greater than four points. But in the end, Heritage’s foul shooting allowed them to pull out a 44-43 victory.
The Lady Warriors tripled the shot attempts of Heritage in the first half, but the baskets weren’t falling. Courtney Prausa and Kelsey Prausa were the leading scorers for Horizon. Sainabou Jallow had a strong second half on the boards for Lady Warriors and senior Courtney Prausa was able to play through an ankle injury and finish the final game of her high school career on the court.
Horizon’s boys appeared to be well on their way to defending their state title after taking an early 18-4 lead in the championship game, but Mt. Zion slowly whittled away at the lead and eventually escaped with a 66-65 double-overtime win.
The game’s lead was exchanged multiple times in the second half and Mt. Zion held a two-point lead when Horizon’s Neal Hall was fouled with 0.3 seconds left. Hall made both free throws to push the game into an extra period, but Mt. Zion eventually seized control.
The Warriors’ recurring struggles at the free throw line were evident, as the team shot a mere 53 percent from the charity stripe.
“Turnovers and free throws, the same things that hurt us this year hurt us in the game,” Horizon coach Curtis Eggleston said.
“It is hard to convince a 24-1 team that it has something to work on, but now I bet a 24-2 team knows.”
Horizon seniors Neal Hall had 21 points and 26 rebounds, Cody Vaughan had nine points and 15 rebounds and Christian Durnwald had six points.
The Lady Warriors went back and forth with Heritage Sharpsburg in a game where neither team ever held a lead greater than four points. But in the end, Heritage’s foul shooting allowed them to pull out a 44-43 victory.
The Lady Warriors tripled the shot attempts of Heritage in the first half, but the baskets weren’t falling. Courtney Prausa and Kelsey Prausa were the leading scorers for Horizon. Sainabou Jallow had a strong second half on the boards for Lady Warriors and senior Courtney Prausa was able to play through an ankle injury and finish the final game of her high school career on the court.
Horizon’s boys appeared to be well on their way to defending their state title after taking an early 18-4 lead in the championship game, but Mt. Zion slowly whittled away at the lead and eventually escaped with a 66-65 double-overtime win.
The game’s lead was exchanged multiple times in the second half and Mt. Zion held a two-point lead when Horizon’s Neal Hall was fouled with 0.3 seconds left. Hall made both free throws to push the game into an extra period, but Mt. Zion eventually seized control.
The Warriors’ recurring struggles at the free throw line were evident, as the team shot a mere 53 percent from the charity stripe.
“Turnovers and free throws, the same things that hurt us this year hurt us in the game,” Horizon coach Curtis Eggleston said.
“It is hard to convince a 24-1 team that it has something to work on, but now I bet a 24-2 team knows.”
Horizon seniors Neal Hall had 21 points and 26 rebounds, Cody Vaughan had nine points and 15 rebounds and Christian Durnwald had six points.