The Holy Cross Catholic Academy boys basketball team accomplished a season-long goal while leaving a legacy in the process by claiming the school’s first ever state championship Thursday.
The Mustangs took an early lead on Beaumont Legacy Christian and never looked back, running away for a 59-45 victory to win the TAPPS Class 2A state championship at Waco Robinson High School.
It’s the first state championship in school history for Holy Cross, as the Mustangs finish an unbelievable year at 27-8.
“This means everything to the Holy Cross community,” Holy Cross head basketball coach Austin Turner said. “It’s so amazing. This team and this school is very selfless. To hang a banner is so special. This team has worked so hard, and fell short last year. These guys went right back to work and stacked days. They made this happen and they won this for the school.”
Holy Cross played like savvy veterans rather than an eyes wide-open squad making their first trip to the TAPPS state tournament. The Mustangs also had to grind their way to a state title thanks to a thrilling win during Wednesday’s state semifinal against First Baptist. In a matchup of No. 1-ranked Holy Cross and No. 2-ranked First Baptist, the matchup lived up to the billing with the Mustangs erasing a 10-point second half deficit to pull off a thrilling 63-55 victory in double overtime.
“Our team was nothing but resilient Wednesday against First Baptist,” Turner said. “We played with a refuse to lose attitude and we weren’t ready to go home. We were in some tough situations throughout that game, but we showed togetherness and chemistry when it mattered. We had that will to win and these guys weren’t ready to go home.”
Kong Deng was incredible for the Mustangs in both games, combining for 51 points during the state tournament. Deng finished with a team-high 29 points in the semifinal win against First Baptist, knocking down four, 3-pointers and then had 22 points with four more 3-pointers against Beaumont Legacy on Thursday.
“Kong (Deng) is a special person,” Turner said. “He loves the game and you love to see a great thing like this happen to a kid like him. His defense gets overlooked but he plays on that end very hard. He’s a scorer, and that showed all year and in the state tournament.”
Teammate and senior Willy Atak along with Mou Tong joined Deng as All-Tournament selections. Atak tallied 10 points against First Bapist and 12 in the state title win against Beaumont Legacy. Tong chipped in 10 in the state semifinal matchup and registered 10 more in the state championship win.