Paradise senior Max Jordan challenges Westwood junior Kavian Bryant at the rim in the Panthers’ 52-51 state championship win Friday in San Antonio. Jordan scored a career high 29 points in his last game, winning 3A-II championship MVP honors. AUSTIN JACKSON | WCMESSENGER
The rafters in Paradise will no longer be void of state championship banners.
Paradise fought Westwood from behind nearly all game, but a go-ahead basket by Max Jordan in the 3A Division II state championship couldn’t have been more timely.
His turnaround jumper from close-range landed with 33 seconds to go, putting Paradise ahead 52-51. But miscommunication on an inbound play opened Westwood up for a game-winner with 0.8 seconds to go.
Paradise’s lead held. Westwood junior guard Kavian Bryant stole the Paradise inbound and launched a deep three from the left wing, but it missed everything.
The win was the first championship for any team sport in Paradise.
“Just overwhelming pride,” Paradise coach Bo Rickner said in the postgame press conference, describing his immediate feelings following the game. “I’m super proud of these guys with how much time they put in and how they worked for this. This game was kind of indicative of our season — close games, toughness, executing, never giving up, believing in each other, loving each other, doing it for the team and coming up clutch down the stretch.”
Westwood and Paradise battled early for an edge in the championship game. Bryant hit a pair of threes to help Westwood to a 7-2 lead early, but Paradise countered with Max Jordan.
Jordan — the state tournament MVP — totaled 7 first quarter points, all coming from close range. Senior guard Cash Gibson came off the bench and fought through an ankle injury to add a field goal for Paradise to keep Westwood close in the first period, 14-9.
Rickner described Cash as the “heartbeat” of Paradise’s team, and said his players rallied around the injury the last two games to win a championship for him as well.
“The ball is kind of his responsibility. He gets everybody set and makes everybody better,” Rickner said. “…We wouldn’t be here without him.”
Westwood and Paradise went shot-for-shot into the second quarter and Westwood carried a 25-18 lead into halftime. While both teams showed inefficiency from the field the first 16 minutes, Westwood’s 3-point shooting gave it an edge.
Westwood finished only 3-13 from deep in the first half, but Paradise shot 10 percent from the same range.
“We couldn’t buy a shot it seemed. We were 8-of-29 in the first half,” Rickner said. “It was something we talked about [at halftime]. It was a lot of good looks — open threes that we make a lot of the time, shots around the basket that we were short-arming and not using the backboard and not going up strong and finishing. We kind of used that at halftime, knowing we were only down 7 and playing good defense for the most part … so it was all about staying the course. We made some adjustments at halftime, moved some defensive matchups around to help with rebounding and to help with Kavian out there…”
“We went back out there and it was one possession at a time, grinding it out.”
Paradise found its rhythm shooting the ball in the third quarter, and a 66 percent clip from the field helped it draw even with Westwood. After Cooper Jones missed a shot late in the third quarter, he followed the ball off the rim for a put back layup to tie Westwood 30-30. But Westwood responded with an 8-4 run to close out the period and took a 38-34 lead into the final 8 minutes.
Rickner said Paradise knew what to expect from the state championship atmosphere and turned last year’s experience into lessons to grow from. That, combined with Paradise’s success in tight playoff games, proved to be a game-changer down the stretch of the title game.
“In terms or preparation — mentally and emotionally — everybody knew what to expect, so all the distractions and everything like that were kept at a minimum,” Rickner said. “These guys were focused. They had a mission to do and they were locked in starting after the game on Tuesday night.”
Westwood went up 44-38 with 5:32 to go in the game after Bryant’s blow-by layup, which also drew a Paradise foul. His trip to the free throw line a couple of minutes later maintained Westwood’s 6-point lead.
Paradise had a burst of momentum inside the 3-minute mark. Jones and Will McGregor’s offense tacked on points for Paradise, while guard Bryce Chipman used his bounce for a block on Bryant that turned into a Wyatt Sanders layup that brought Paradise within two (49-47).
Westwood took a two possession lead with 1:14 to play, but Jones — who had been quiet for most of the afternoon — delivered his most impactful shot of the game. With a hand in his face and a harassing defender, Jones drained a 3-pointer to cut Westwood’s lead to 51-50.
“I don’t really know,” Jones said with a laugh, in response to how get got the shot off in minimal space. “I hadn’t been hitting my shots, but I had to keep shooting. I worked for this, and after every shot I knew I couldn’t get in my head.”
Less than a minute later, the game had its first lead change. Jordan’s go-ahead shot in the paint fell through to put Paradise up 52-51 and proved to be the game-winner.
Rickner said Paradise was equipped for the championship moment because of its tough regular season and the tight playoff moments that led up to Friday.
“These guys have been doing it for three years and four years. It’s something they’ve experienced,” Rickner said. “Not just coming down here, but putting four seasons playing together and going through the grind. These guys can take on anybody and go through anything, and they never back down.”
Jordan had a game-high 29 points and added 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a pair of steals. He seemed to have an innate ability to be in the right place at the right time, finishing open on poor defensive rotations or gathering offensive rebounds for putbacks.
The performance tied his career-high in points and helped him earn state tournament MVP honors.
“Just find the open gap, finish and I know my teammates will find me. I trust them,” Jordan said. “We talked before the game how [Westwood] kind of helps off the post and we practiced that all week. We just executed it.”
Jones finished with 10 points for Paradise. He and Creek Gibson, who assumed the top ball-handling duties in place of his brother, both had 5 assists.
“My brother got injured and I knew I had to pick up the slack as the PG1,” Creek Gibson said. “At practice, I just did what I could to pick that up and I was just blessed to go out there and do that.”
For Westwood, Bryant finished with a team-high 26 points, while his brother, Kaden, followed behind with 12. Westwood forward Sebastian Lathan pulled down 15 rebounds.
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