Coral Springs Christian Academy closed out their Kreul Classic Coral Springs Challenge run with a hard fought 54-50 victory over Cardinal Gibbons. The Coral Springs Christian Crusaders bounced back from a loss to Campbell, while the Cardinal Gibbons Chiefs dropped their second consecutive game.

The end of the first quarter, marked by countless missed shots and turnovers, saw Coral Springs Christian leading 7-5. Travon Broadway scored just two of his game-high 23 points in the quarter. Austin Marks connected once from deep and Sherack Malokwu chipped in two points, outside of that trio, there was virtually no offense in the first for the Crusaders. As for Cardinal Gibbons, point guard Ricardo Jackson scored all five of his team’s first-quarter points, including a three-pointer and a pair of three throws. Kristopher Bogle was held scoreless in the quarter, but that trend would not continue as the game progressed.

Luckily, the rest of the game proved to be much more exciting than the 7-5 start. The Crusaders backcourt came to life in the second, Steven Quintero scoring five in the quarter including a three-pointer and Travon Broadway pouring in six on his way to a game-high eight points at the half. However, strong play from the Coral Springs Christian guards was not enough to hold back the Chiefs’ push in the second quarter. Bogle and Angel Smith led the way for Cardinal Gibbons, each posting four in the quarter. The Chiefs outscored the Crusaders 16-12 in the quarter en route to a 21-19 lead at halftime.

The Chiefs defense keyed in on Crusaders’ top scoring threat, Travon Broadway in the third quarter, limiting him to just one point. Marks and Quintero both knocked down three-pointers in the quarter, and Owayne Haughton came in and put up four points, but the Crusaders could not make a push. Kristopher Bogle led the Chiefs with six points in the quarter but did not get much help from his teammates on offense. Ricardo Jackson failed to score in the second or third quarter after being responsible for all of his team’s first-quarter points. Neither team could pull away in the third quarter, and after three, the Chiefs had a slight three-point edge, 35-32.

In the fourth and final quarter, Coral Springs Christian exploded for 22 points, led by an offensive onslaught from Travon Broadway. The senior put up 14 points in the quarter, doing work from both the three-point and free throw line. “He’s the best scorer that we have, what he brings defensively and being able to hit clutch free throws, that’s really what helped us down the stretch,” Coral Springs Christian

“He’s the best scorer that we have, what he brings defensively and being able to hit clutch free throws, that’s really what helped us down the stretch,” Coral Springs Christian Academy head coach Gavin Felix said. “He really bothered shots on the other end, and he was able to tip passes and get steals.” Kristopher Bogle posted another six-point quarter on his way to a team-high 16 points

Kristopher Bogle posted another six-point quarter on his way to a team-high 16 points and Angel Smith posted five in the fourth, but it was not enough to repel the Crusader comeback. Ricardo Jackson hit a key layup to put the Chiefs up six with four minutes remaining, but from there on out it was Broadway time, who, ironically, performed very well on the big stage. Broadway drove to the basket for an and-one to draw the deficit to just one and came down and splashed a three-pointer to take back the lead the very next play. Following those two huge buckets, Broadway went to the line and calmly netted both of his free throws, as did Quintero on the team’s next possession to ice the game at 54-50.

“Those guys are just tired of losing; they didn’t want to lose” Felix said.

Both Bogle (16 points) for Cardinal Gibbons and Quintero (11 points) for Coral Springs Christian Academy earned All-Tournament honors for the Coral Springs Challenge. Up next for the Chiefs is a December 28 matchup against Villages Charter, and the Crusaders have Whitman-Hanson Regional to look forward to, come January 2.