The Lions of North Valley Christian finished the 1A Championship game with Apache sneaker prints all over them as Fort Thomas raced into history as the 1A Arizona State Champions for 2020. The final score after North Valley Christian finished the fourth quarter by chasing down Apache players to foul them in vain was 62-46, which was only a little over the 14.5 point average differential of the game. The closest the Lions got after the first quarter was 9 points behind. Once during the game North Valley was 22 points behind.

The Apaches only put 14 points on the board in the first 8 minutes of the game, but fans were consoled by the fact that they were never behind, as the Lions only scored 5 points, and the Apaches slowly built up their lead to 9 points.

In first quarter, baskets were mostly by Malachi Rogers, but Skylar Kindelay and Brad Johnson got busy for the rest of the half, putting in 14 points with the help of a 3-pointer by Cameron Anderson. North Valley managed only 10 points. Still the scoring was below what either team had done in games past.

In the case of North Valley, this seemed to have a lot do with the work of 6’6” Latrell Titla who reached out and took in balls in like a black hole gobbling in doomed stars.

He wasn’t the only rebounder for the Apaches but there was a ghastly inevitability about it: One shot. One and done, (the ball very often gathered in to be dispensed to Rogers, Kindelay, Johnson, Preston and Co. for delivery to the Lions’ basket.)

The Lions made a comeback of sorts in the third quarter. For that period, they outscored the Apaches 17-15. Patton Stepped up for the Lions with three 3-pointers. Savoury and Roman added two more outside shots. If you can’t get inside try outside said a knowledgeable fan. Of course, one can be blocked there also.

In the last quarter, the Apaches increased their lead to 22 making the score 56-34. Then with 3:24 left in the game, the lions scored 9 straight points but there wasn’t enough time before both teams pulled their starters out to let their whole teams join the game. Jeremiah Bullis put in the last basket making the final score 62-46.  Coach Matthew Dona credited the defense and the energy of the whole team. “All season we practice we run hard and we play hard.”

The Ft. Thomas team is full of seniors who have been working and fighting four years for this prize. And they set about to divide up the pieces of the net.

And the whole team smiled for the cameras and smiled and celebrated with their faithful fans who had traveled so far to support them.