Churchill Chargers Capture Program Sized Win Over Top Ranked Judson Rockets to Advance to Regional Finals; 51-48

Texas girl's high school basketball playoff live coverage recap - senior Charger Rikaya Nelson clinches berth in regional finals and keeps Churchill dream season alive with two late free throws

Senior Churchill combo guard Alina Hernandez drives to the hoop in Tuesday night's Regional Semifinal matchup. The Chargers overcame a fourth quarter deficit to knock off the top ranked Judson Rockets, 51-48. / Ryan Childers

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - Survive and advance is the name of the game in a win and go home scenario at any level of basketball.

The San Antonio Churchill lady Chargers (31-5) did just that on Tuesday night erasing a nine-point fourth quarter deficit in the Texas high school girl's basketball Regional Semifinal ending the game on an 11-1 run over the final three minutes of regulation.

In a massive program-legacy win, the Chargers were led in scoring by senior Little Rock signee Rakiya Nelson's 15 points knocking down four free throws down the stretch late to clinch the win against the top-ranked team in the Texas high school girls power 25, the Judson lady Rockets (36-2); 51-48.

Churchill came out from the opening tip-off and never backed down from the fight with the Rockets as they came out firing on all cylinders taking a 17-10 first quarter lead.

"This win is huge for these girls and it brings everything to life," said Charger head coach Jamie Grams. "It is a great moment for them. All the little things we talked about in the beginning of the year are turning into these larger things - we said have to be specific on the little things to win and now we are doing them."

However, basketball is a game of runs and the Lady Chargers knew that the Rockets would go on their own run starting in the second quarter.

The Rockets run in the second quarter was led by their all-state senior Houston Cougar commit Kayla King scoring a game-high 28 points showing her ability to score at all three-levels on the offensive side. The future Cougar knocked down a spot up, catch and shoot three as the first half buzzer expired to give Judson a 27-21 halftime advantage.

"We know that this is a game of runs, the team is going to stay together, we will be up sometimes and we will be down sometimes," Nelson said. "After the first quarter, we were down most of the game and we know the type of fight we have in us. At the end of day, we knew it was going to be about us going on a run and defense wins championships and we took two charges at the end to help lead us."

And, the final Charger run that clinched the victory was an 11-1 run in the final three minutes of the game advancing Churchill to the regional finals where they will square off against the San Marcos Lady Rattlers on Friday night.

"We have always said that if we beat Judson, we are going to be able to make it to state," Nelson said. "When we played them earlier this year and lost by 12 because of fouls at the end. We always knew we could play with them and beat them."

The Charger head coach spoke very highly of her girls' work ethic in the win and exclaimed that it would take the same type of effort in the next round against the Rattlers to earn a berth in the state semifinals.

"I just think everything that we did tonight playing each and every possession, talking like we were, and doing everything together," Grams said. "That is what we do well - these girls love each other so much, so we need to stay connected throughout the game."

Nelson led Churchill with 15 points. Junior guard Alexis Martens had 13 and Hernandez added10, all in the second half.

Along with the Little Rock signee's clutch rebounds and free throws down the stretch - Churchill senior guard Alina Hernandez chipped in with five points of her 10 points in the fourth quarter propelling the victory.

More impressively than her timely points, it was Hernandez's ability to pick an offensive foul on the Rockets' junior point guard Delaney Arredondo at the 1:11 mark of the fourth quarter to keep the game tied at 47 apiece.

“I knew that she wanted to take it to the hole, and I knew that if I stood there, I’d get the call that I wanted,” Hernandez said. “I don’t take charges often, but I knew that I had to do that for my team and get that ball back.”

The Lady Rockets' Arredondo chipped in with 15 points as their quest for a state title came up short.

After capturing their first district championship since 2018, Churchill is looking to make it back to the Alamodome and earn their spot in the state championship for the first time since 2007.

"This is really, really huge for Churchill basketball, we always talk about who we are doing it for," Grams said. "It is knowing that the Chargers are about a community and doing it for one another."

Live Recap: Converse Judson Lady Rockets v Churchill Chargers Regional Semifinals

Updates will be placed here throughout the game

1ST QUARTER: 0-0; 8:00

We are off in this regional semifinal game with the Lady Chargers winning the tip.

Churchill; 1Q; 3:00; 8-4 - Churchill has jumped out to a quick start with some aggressive defense and good rebounding by Alina Hernandez to spark the offensive start and two threes by seniors Alexis Martens and Daphne Zuniga.

Churchill; 1Q; 1:09; 17-10 Senior Charger Rakiya Nelson with the old fashioned three-point play to extend Churchill's hot first quarter start.

After Judson's Kayla King adds her third bucket of the quarter, Martens added a short mid-range jumper to end the first eight minutes for the Chargers.

End of 1: Churchill leads 17-10

2Q: Churchill; 5:30 17-14 - Junior Delaney Arredondo delivers two driving floaters to start the Rockets on an early second quarter 4-0 run to cut their deficit to three.

LEAD CHANGE: Judson; 2:40; 20-19: - Lady Rockets starting to settle into this game with some nice offensive possessions as Arredondo continues the hot hand with eight quarter points. This is Judson's first lead of the game.

HALFTIME: Judson 27-21: After a fast pace final two minutes of the opening half, the Lady Rockets have bounced back from an early deficit to take a six point lead into the break. Judson was able to close the half on a 7-2 run thanks to a catch and shoot three from their senior leader Kayla King as time expired.

King leads all scorers with 13 points while junior Charger guard Alexis Martens paces Churchill with nine points.

Judson: 3Q; 32-23, 5:40 - The Lady Rockets come out swinging on offense with five points from Arredondo including a three-point bomb to extend lead to 32-23

Judson: 3Q; 36-29, 3:23 - The Chargers continue to fight and claw their ways back into the game with two of their own three pointers from Daphne Zuniga and Alina Hernandez.

Judson: 3Q; 39-36, 1:14 - Churchill is continuing to stay in this game with the three-point shot as junior guard Makayla Walker knocks down another Lady Charger corner three late in the third quarter.

Both teams are showing the fight and their grit to earn their spot in the regional final game.

End of 3: Judson clinging to a 40-36 lead entering the final eight minutes of play. King leads all scorers with 20 points, while Arredondo has added a timely 14 points to lead the Lady Rockets.

Judson; 4Q; 45-38; 4:59- The Houston Cougar commit is continuing to impress with her patience on the offensive end leading the Rockets with 25 points knocking down a pull-up three from the top of the arc. Then, adds two more off a steal converting into a fast break layup.

Judson; 4Q; 47-40; 3:09 - Coming down the stretch with the final three minutes of game-time action as King adds two more to her total at the charity stripe and senior Rakiya Nelson for Churchill continues their will-to-win with a steal and a nice finish at the rim.

Churchill's Hernandez adds another three-point bomb to bring their deficit to just two with under two miinutes to play.

Judson; 4Q; 47-47; 1:11- Nelson ties the game with two free throws. The Chargers have battled their way back with 1 minute left. Full Rocket time out as they possess the ball.

LEAD CHANGE: CHURCHILL ; 51-48 ; 9 SECONDS - Nelson gets the defensive rebound off a Judson miss and Nelson knocks down two free throws . Then, on the other end, King drove to the basket and picked up the foul taking her to the line for two tying free throws. The future Cougar was only able to knock down one of two as the Rockets were unable to tie the game.

FINAL SCORE: 51-48 : Churchill Chargers pull off the upset with a last second finish and two game-clinching free throws by Rakiya Nelson. Judson's final shot at a game-tying three came up short.

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