How Providence Christian's basketball season ended in heartbreak
Tom KreagerCOOKEVILLE – This one will hurt for a while.
Providence Christian's first trip to the TSSAA Division II-A boys basketball state tournament ended in heartbreak Saturday night.
PCA lost to First Assembly Christian School 57-55 in the DII-A boys state championship game at Tennessee Tech's Hooper Eblen Center after sophomore Cello Jackson's bucket with two seconds left. PCA's full-length pass was picked off and the Crusaders ran out the clock.
"I'm incredibly proud of this team," PCA coach Kerry Hammonds said. "What these guys have done, they've accomplished a lot of firsts. But the best part is the young men that they are. How they love each other and do it joyfully.
"These guys don't know, but they are a way bigger blessing to me than I could ever be to them."
The Crusaders won their second state title in three years. PCA (29-5) led by as many as 14 points against FACS (27-3). FACS opened the fourth quarter with seven straight points and held the Lions to just four in the fourth quarter.
Jackson's final bucket came after FACS settled for one last shot.
Jackson finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field alongside 5-of-7 at the free throw line. Teammate Martechio Hayes added 15.
"Guys knew those guys were good; they were going to go on a run," said Hammonds, a former Siegel and MTSU standout. "When you have players that make plays like theirs, we expected it.
"We just didn't get enough tops down the stretch."
Judson Bjornstad, a transfer from Franklin Road Christian School, had 19 points. Teammate Aiden Bolden added 15.
PCA emerged as a basketball power this season a year after losing in its opening TSSAA playoff game in a DII-A district game. But Bjornstad joined the team and the group was a year older.
"We didn't even make it out to the regional last year," Bolden said. "I like the fact we came together and played together."
Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on the X platform @Kreager.