Logan Jones has been one of the senior leaders for Harvest Christian this season. He’s often among the Lions’ leading scorers.
The well went dry for Jones and his teammates, however, during Friday night’s 67-42 loss to the host Eagles in the Class 1A Aurora Christian Regional championship game.
“We couldn’t get our shots to fall, which is going to happen,” Jones said. “We just had an off night.”
Harvest Christian (18-9) shot just 4-for-17 in the first half. The Lions fell behind 11-0 and didn’t score their first basket until Jack Nohava converted a layup with 1:25 left in the first quarter.
A 9-0 run by Aurora Christian (24-1) made it 28-7 midway through the second quarter, and a 10-0 run by the Eagles spanning the second and third quarters saw the Lions trailing 41-13.
“I was worried early if they got up on us,” Harvest Christian coach Bryan Bradshaw said. “I knew it would be difficult for us to climb out of a hole, and that’s what happened.
“When you play a good team, when you get in a hole, it’s hard to get back. Last time we played them, we were able to scratch and claw our way out, and this time they closed the door as good teams do.”
It was the Lions’ third loss this season to Aurora Christian. In December, Harvest lost 58-56 in Elgin.
Jones scored eight points in the regional final, and Nohava had a team-best 13 points and 11 rebounds. Grant Young added 11 points.
Jones had fun playing this season for Harvest after transferring from Prairie Ridge.
“This group of guys is like no other group of guys that I can imagine,” Jones said. “They made it a fun season and made it enjoyable for my last year of playing, and I thank them for that.”
Aurora Christian was led by brothers Jake Wolfe (27 points) and Will Wolfe (19 points). Harvest also was hurt by 14 turnovers.
Despite Friday’s loss, Bradshaw was pleased with the way the season turned out.
“I don’t think people expected much, but our guys really grew and did a nice job,” Bradshaw said. “I’m proud of our three seniors, the way that they led us. Mark (Davila) was the energy guy, Logan was the glue and Dylan (Lockwood) was just the toughness.”
Bob Hurst is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.