The boys basketball team has had an unbelievable year. With a crazy comeback in the District Championship game, the boys took home their first district title since 2010 and then turned to sectionals last night.

Last Friday the team came back from an amazing 16-point deficit against a great McCluer team in the fourth quarter of a tough game. Being the second seed in your district is always a positive, but these boys didn’t want to stop there. They rolled over St. Charles, taking home a big victory, and moved on to the number one seed.

The boys may have fallen behind early, but they never stopped fighting in their hearts and on the court as they crawled back from 16 down to win the game.

“The 4th quarter was a pure adrenaline rush with the superfans behind us. We were battling the whole time, and when the buzzer sounded, it was the happiest moment of my life,” junior Brendan Deters said.

This crazy comeback led them to their first district title in a decade and a sectional matchup against Kirksville.

“Leading the team to this historic win was the most enjoyable thing I’ve ever done. It’s easy to be a leader with this group of guys because we all are so tight knit and have great chemistry,” Deters said.

The sectional game didn’t end the way the Crusaders had hoped. After a hard-fought game, the team fell 77-74. It was back and forth all night long, but in the end Kirksville came out on top. Though it was played all the way out at Troy Buchanan High School, there was a huge turnout of students, parents and staff. The team’s dedicated fans all came to support the boys, especially our lone senior Kyle Crawford.

“It was a great season. We gave it all that last game; the ball just didn’t go our way. This is a great group of guys who I will really miss,” Crawford said.

We are so proud of our varsity boys and everything they accomplished this year. Their hard-fought season brought us some exciting games and our first district title in 10 years! This team should be proud of the performance they put in and excited about next season as they lost only one senior. We as fans certainly are already pumped for the start of next season.