By: Railey Ayers

Today, the Crenshaw Christian Academy varsity basketball team will travel to Macon East-Montgomery Academy to fight through their region tournament in hopes of qualifying for the Elite 8 series.

The number four seeded Cougars are set to face the number one seeded Evangel Christian (Mont.) Lions in their own backyard, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

The Cougars enter competition as huge underdogs, the owners of a losing record and the lowest seeded team to qualify for the tournament.

They suffered losses to Macon East- Montgomery, South Montgomery, Abbeville and Sparta (Evergreen) in a race to get region games done in time to qualify last week, but the boys are closing the once-large gap.

After a 44-point loss to Abbeville Christian in January, the gap was closed to only a 9-point loss to the defending state champions last week, as well as coming within five points of beating South Montgomery and Sparta.

Many factors contributed to the vast improvements from the Cougars in the past week, but one factor buzzed louder than the others: senior Morgan King’s historical run.

King, a former state champion, had a record week highlighted by his scoring over 80 points in just two games.  With King averaging about 40 points per game in recent play, the Cougars cling tightly to a slight hope of advancing with the lingering possibility that their season, and basketball careers for some, will be over in one day.

“We’ve worked hard, and it’s crazy to think [Thursday] could be our last game. It’s been a wild year but I feel like even if it does all end tomorrow I’ll still walk away a better basketball player and a better man thanks to Coach Sims,” said senior Cade Calhoun.