Boy's team reaches Union tournament championship, taking second place

Boy's Varsity Basketball photos

Girl's Varsity Basketball Photos

This past week, the Campion Academy Varsity basketball teams competed in the Union Adventist University Spring Tournament against nine other schools. The boys team made it to the championship game for the first time in nine years and took second place, losing against Andrews. The girls pushed themselves to the semi-finals, ending in fourth place overall.  

The boys were motivated and determined to give it their all.  EJ Woy, a senior at Campion on the team stated, “Even though I was injured, since it was my last year at tournament, it motivated me to give my all to the team and support them,” recalled Woy. 

A highlight of the tournament happened during the boys semi-final against Sunnydale. Although Campion had already won against Sunnydale in a previous game, the game had remained tightly contested and hard fought. In the last 10 seconds, Sunnydale pulled ahead of Campion by two points. With six seconds left, Joshua Fresse scored a 3-pointer to win the game and send them to the finals. Campion’s team, along with a crowd of alumni supporters, erupted in cheers. 

Zach Harlow, freshman, expressed, “The shot was amazing, and it gave me motivation to push through the finals.”

The boys pushed through and worked hard together to reach a common goal throughout their season. Amani Zeru, sophomore, shared, “We all came together, committed, whether it was practice or a real game.”

Our girls team lost their first game against Madison, but the next day they powered through and won all three games, taking them to the semi-finals, where they lost against Andrews. 

Recalling the girls team’s performance, Damaris Lopez-Morquecho the team captain explained, “Even when we did lose a few games, we didn’t let it get to us. Instead we moved forward and worked hard.”

In addition to the games, the teams from the nine different academies came together for worship on Friday night and Sabbath. On Friday night, Union had a vespers talking about our walk with Jesus and afterwards there was a nice afterglow where the students from different schools came together and sang and gave glory to God. Lopez-Morquecho expressed, “I really enjoyed making new friends that were rivals on the court, and coming together to make new memories.”

Overall, the tournament was a good bonding experience for the teams. Aspen Phelps, freshman, stated, “I really enjoyed connecting with my teammates this season and learning together.”

Abigail Brown, Student News Team