KAUFMAN — After a fast start, the shots stopped falling for Bishop Gorman during Saturday's TAPPS 3A regional basketball championship.
But when the buckets and defensive plays were needed the most, the Crusaders came through in the fourth quarter for a 43-36 win over the Lucas Christian Warriors at the Lions Den on the campus of Kaufman High School.
With the victory the Crusaders advance to the TAPPS 3A State Tournament this week in the Waco area.
Bishop Gorman, which earned its second Final Four bid under the leadership of Coach Kevin Murray, will meet Lubbock Christian School in the state semifinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Waco University High School.
A semifinals win moves the Crusaders to the state title game, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday at Robinson High School.
"(Crusaders) had to battle adversity — it slowed us down a bit, we wanted to play a little bit faster," Murray said. "We had to execute. They had length out there. We had to move the basketball around and find our spots and get back to the way we play. We were able to get some key turnovers there at the end and some good defensive stops. And we hit some big shots."
With 3:38 showing in the fourth quarter, Anthony Todd stole the basketball and went the length of the court for a basket to tie the game at 32-32.
Then a Crusader was called for a block and then assessed a technical foul. Johnny Ostertag hit the first free throw, but missed the second. Then the Warriors missed both tech free throw attempts. Still, Lucas Christian had a 33-32 lead and possession of the ball with 3:20 on the clock. However, the Warriors turned the ball over as BG stepped up defensively.
Thus, Lucas Christian with a potential seven-point possession made only one point and the momentum suddenly turned to the Tyler squad.
The Crusaders worked their offense and ran a play for freshman EJ Coppock who drained a 3-pointer to give Gorman a 35-33 lead with 2:30 showing. It was the beginning of a 9-0 run by the Cru during crunch time.
The bucket energized the team and the crowd. Evan Thibodeaux stole the ball as the Warriors tried to run a play.
After a timeout, the Green & White squad moved the ball around and found Thibodeaux open and he swished a trey for a 38-33 advantage at 1:44.
Lucas Christian's next time down court, Todd blocked a shot and Coppock rebounded. After a Gorman turnover, the Crusaders turned the tables on the Warriors by smothering the squad and forcing a five-second call.
On the TKG inbound, Todd threw a long pass to Beau Bender, who jetted past the defenders for a layup and he was fouled on the play. His old-fashioned three-point play put Gorman up 41-33 with 50 seconds on the clock, completing the 9-0 run.
The Warriors tried to stay in the contest with a 3-pointer by Jameson Gibbins to get within 41-36 at 37 seconds.
TKG completed the game as both Todd and Trey Newsome hit free throws.
Thibodeaux led the Crusaders with 13 points, followed by Ryan Richbourg (9), Bender (6), Coppock (5), Todd (5), Newsome (3) and Joseph Richbourg (2).
Joseph Richbourg had seven rebounds and four steals, while Ryan Richbourg and Todd each had four rebounds. Newsome and Coppock added three boards apeice.
Todd had four blocks and three steals. Coppock drew a charge.
Jacob Kirchhofer led the Warriors with 12 points, followed by Gibbins (11), Zach Branch (8) and Ostertag (5).
Branch had seven boards with four each from Kirchhofer and Ostertag.
TKG was 4 of 9 from the free throw line and 9 of 23 from 3-point (Thibodeaux, 4; Ryan Richbourg, 3; Bender, 1; Coppock, 1).
The Warriors were 12 of 17 at the free throw line and 4 of 13 from 3-point (Gibbins, 2; Branch, 1; Kirchhofer, 1).
Other members of the Crusaders include: David Phillips, Jack Coan, Nate Glosson, Carlin Ifeadi, James Trempert, Brooks Frans and Leo Weibe.
Gorman led 15-3 after the first quarter, but the Warriors wouldn't go away and pulled within 22-17 at halftime. Lucas Christian took a 28-27 lead at the end of the third quarter as Kirchhofer canned a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds on the clock.