SAN ANTONIO – For the first time in program history, the Boerne Champion boys basketball team took the court at the Alamodome for the UIL Class 5A State semifinals. Despite an inspired effort on both sides of the ball, their remarkable season came to an end on Thursday night.
Junior Braden Baum scored a game-high 23 points and was one of three Chargers that played all 32 minutes, but Champion fell to perennial power Mansfield Timberview 55-43.
The first play of the game set the tone. Wolves senior Braylon Crosby found Chendall Weaver for a soaring alley-oop dunk just 12 seconds into the game for a 2-0 advantage. Champion was undeterred, scoring the next four points on driving layups from senior Braxton Burdick and Baum. Both teams traded scores and runs, as the Chargers proved they could compete on the state’s biggest stage. Baum tied the game at 11 with a corner three and senior Jesse Peart scored on a layup that gave Champion a 13-11 lead after one quarter of play.
Clearly, Baum had the hot hand. He opened the second quarter with a three and hit another triple later in the frame to put the Chargers up 22-20. Peart added another three-ball for a five-point lead, matching their largest of the game. But Timberview closed the half on an 8-0 run and took a 28-25 lead into halftime.
The second half began with more than two minutes of scoreless basketball, but Champion seized momentum quickly. After Burdick knocked down a pair of free throws, Tate Owen drilled a triple that put the Chargers up 30-28. That would prove to be their last lead. The Wolves countered with a methodical 12-0 run and cruised through the final 10 minutes of regulation to win by 12.
Champion finishes their historic season with a 33-7 overall record.