With the game out of reach, Greenwood Christian coach Jackson Williams gives senior Max Booher a hug as he exits Saturday’s semistate semifinal against Bethesda Christian.
Rob Baker | For the Daily Journal
By Seth Tow
For the Daily Journal
WASHINGTON
Greenwood Christian made the biggest playoff run in its boys basketball history — but on Saturday morning, the Cougars ran out of magic.
In its first-ever Class A semistate appearance, GCA (18-8) was thoroughly dismantled by Bethesda Christian at Washington’s famed Hatchet House. The eighth-ranked Patriots cruised to a 53-35 victory in the semifinal clash, advancing to take on Barr-Reeve in Saturday evening’s final.
GCA had a tough time cracking a stout Bethesda defense, which proved the biggest difference in the game.
“They do a great job of being disciplined and really guarding one on one really well,” GCA head coach Jackson Williams said after the game. “They’ve got a lot of length, and they do a really good job making you shoot over the top of them and making every pass contested. So it was tough.”
Williams also cited Bethesda Christian’s rebounding as a big challenge in the matchup, something the Cougars knew would be a tall task. And while the teams finished fairly close in total rebounds, the Patriots (22-7) hurt Greenwood Christian on the offensive glass — they grabbed eight offensive rebounds as a team on Saturday and turned that into nine second-chance points. GCA’s 12 team turnovers also became costly.
Bethesda opened up a 16-7 lead by the end of the first quarter, and stretched it to double digits around the midway point of the second quarter. The Cougars clawed back a bit later in the period, but the Patriots took a 27-17 edge to the locker room at halftime.
And once Bethesda Christian began the third quarter with a 7-0 run, the outcome was never really in doubt.
Senior guard Max Booher led GCA with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting, including a 4-for-11 mark from 3-point range. He also tied freshman Will Simons with a team-high five rebounds.
After the game, Williams told his players he was proud of them for their strong season and the way they fought to reach this big stage. He said that resiliency is what will stick out when he eventually reflects on this year.
“We’ve had guys with injuries that people have no idea about; they’ve been playing on stuff the whole year, battling through, and they could’ve easily sat out and just called it a day and kind of been done for the year,” Williams said. “We had a lot of guys dealing with injury, to get here and get to this point. … It’s just special to be able to get to the first semistate in school history.”
GCA will see seniors Booher, Jordan Taulman and Reid Smith graduate this year. But the Cougars have five juniors returning next season, and Williams said this experience on the big stage can fuel them — as well as the team’s underclassmen — going into next year.
“We made sure that our younger guys were able to be here and play and see the practices and see what it took to get here,” Williams said. “So we’re hoping that we can be back here next year with this group and hopefully fix this result.”
