It wasn’t the fairytale ending for the Life Christian boys’ basketball team, but it was the best ending they’ve ever had. Following an opening-round defeat at the 2B state tournament at the Spokane Coliseum, the Eagles rebounded to win two-straight and took home the fourth-place Hardwood Classic trophy.
The fourth-place finish and 27-2 final record were both all-time bests for Life Christian, who took their first trip to Spokane since moving down from the 1A classification this past summer.
The champions of the Pacific 2B league, Life Christian entered the post-season with an undefeated record before running into a cold shooting night in districts that resulted in the Eagles receiving a lower seed into the state tournament. When the draws were announced, Life Christian was paired with third-ranked Liberty (Spangle); possibly the one team in the 2B classification that could match-up even with the Eagle’s impressive roster height.
The teams squared off on Thursday, March 5 and it was tight throughout. Liberty kept within reach of the Eagles and finally took the lead, 48-47, with just over four minutes remaining in the game. The Lancers would limit Life Christian to just four points the rest of the way and moved onto the semifinal round with a 56-51 victory. Junior Reid Roelofs led the Eagles with 19 points.
Liberty would go end up losing to Morton-White Pass in the championship game 72-57.
Life Christian would bounce back in the consolation round against Walla Walla Valley Academy Friday morning, March 6. The Eagles almost let it slip away though, letting the Knights wipe out a 14-point lead and tie the game at 45-45. A bucket by Luke Lovelady and two free throws by Andy Comfort in the closing moments sealed the 49-46 victory for the Eagles and propelled the team into the trophy round on Saturday, March 7.
In the way of a fourth-place Eagles’ trophy would be a tough Okanogan squad that battled back from a double-digit deficit to threaten Life Christian late in the fourth quarter. Free throws by Comfort and Wyatt Dunlap sealed the 65-61 victory for the Eagles and a trophy was coming back to Tacoma.
Comfort scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in his final game as an Eagle. The 6-5 senior averaged 19.5 points per game for the tournament, setting a new state tournament school record in the process.
“We played three games at state for a total of 96 minutes and I feel that we outplayed our opponents for 90 of the 96 minutes,” said Life Christian head coach Mark Lovelady. “We had a few spurts here and there were we didn’t get much going offensively and that ended up hurting us in the fourth quarter of the first game at State.
“The team bought into our servant mentality and embraced making the extra pass, sacrificing for the team, and working together as a unit on the floor,” Lovelady said. “The entire season I never had to discipline them for being selfish, not working hard, or not being coachable. I am super proud of this amazing group of young men”