Crenshaw Christian Academy came home with two tournament championships Monday night. The games were played at South Montgomery Academy between CCA, SMA and Escambia Academy.

The Crenshaw Christian Academy Cougars may be small, but they are mighty. The team of nine started the season last week with a 75-42 win over Sparta Academy.

“I’m really excited for the boys,” said head coach John Hii.

Milos Zeradanin and Hunter Weeks led in scoring with 20 points each. Brandon White put up 12 points.

Monday could have been more of the same, but point guard Zeradanin got in trouble early in the game.

“We struggled, but we survived,” Hii said.

Point leaders were Weeks with 14 and Aleksander Divjakovic with 16.

Hii said he was really proud of the improvement he saw in the girls team.

“I think that the girls definitely grew up a little bit,” he said. “They played much better.”

The Lady Cougars won the championship game by two points in overtime. The final score was 45-43.

“I was really excited,” Hii said.

Katarina Lazovic led the team with 21 points and Isadore Sadkovic was chosen as the tournament’s most valuable player.

Railey Ayers could have shared that title. She had two big buckets in overtime that sealed the win.

“That really pushed us over the edge. Railey came up really big for us,” Hii said.

Hii said this would be a growing year for the Lady Cougars. This year’s team only has one senior and it is most of the players’ first time playing high school ball. The team started the season with a loss but Hii has seen his players improve with each game.

Hii was thrilled to see his team rally in overtime.

“We scored more points in overtime than we did in the fourth quarter,” he said. “They actually stole the ball and had the last shot and we were able to hold them and regain control of the ball.”

The Cougars will play at home Thursday, Dec. 4, against East Memorial Christian Academy.

Hii said East Memorial liked to get up and down the floor a lot last year. He expects a similar style of play this year.

Crenshaw prefer a fast-paced game, too.

“We’ll just see who’s the better team,” said Hii.