VCA’s Brayden Palacios works to advance the ball against O’Connell Prep’s Robert Lewis in the TAPPS 2A state championship game Thursday at Waco Robinson High School. The Patriots (28-6) were defeated by the Buccaneers, 49-35. BRENDAN MARCHAND | WCMESSENGER
In their first TAPPS 2A state championship game appearance, the Victory Christian Academy Patriots were unable to keep pace with a speedy Galveston O’Connell Prep squad.
The Patriots’ inaugural season as a TAPPS school came to a close with a 49-35 loss to the Buccaneers Thursday night at Waco Robinson High School.
“This was a tough one to take,” VCA coach Nathan Geiger said. “We knew it was going to be a tough matchup — their athleticism, size and quickness were really good. You almost have to play perfect when you play a team like that. They came out and hit some big shots. We just kept fighting ourselves all night long, and it was like a gut punch. We had been great limiting turnovers, but we had nine in the first half, when we usually finish complete games with less than that. But we fought like crazy, and I’m extremely proud of my team.”
VCA finished the season at 28-6. Geiger said the Patriots rose to the occasion in its start-up campaign in the new league.
“This team exceeded my expectations, by far,” he said. “If we had known that we’d be playing for a state championship at the beginning of the year, especially with everything we went through in football, I may have not believed it. But we did it. We overcame adversity throughout the year losing Isaac [Rosser] and Jerran [Martin], and having guys step up into bigger roles. They definitely went above and beyond. Win or lose, they represented themselves, their families and our school very well, and I couldn’t be more happy that I got to coach them this year.”
VCA found itself in a hole early, as O’Connell Prep opened the game with a 9-0 run thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Roderick Dozier and a deep shot from Kevon Lankford-Cunningham. After a timeout, the Patriots outscored the Buccaneers 7-6 in the final 5 minutes of the first quarter to cut the deficit to 8, 15-7.
O’Connell Prep’s length and quickness continued to overwhelm VCA in the second quarter. The Buccaneers’ Derrick Kirks and Lankford-Cunningham netted five points each to fuel a 14-6 drive, putting VCA in a 29-13 hole at halftime.
The Patriots got within 10 (31-21) after 7 minutes of play in the third quarter, but was unable to come any closer. Despite outscoring O’Connell Prep 22-20 in the final 16 minutes, the Buccaneers’ early advantage sealed the championship win.
Brennen Ables and Caiden Shetter scored eight points each to lead VCA’s effort, and were selected to the all-state tournament team, along with the Patriots’ Layton Huddleston (four points) and the Buccaneers’ Lankford-Cunningham (13 points), Dozier (11 points), Kirks (10 points).
This story will be updated.
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