Modesto Christian boys will take on Capital Christian without sharpshooter

His vastly improved shot was the key to unlocking Modesto Christian’s playoff potential this season.

Now, the state-ranked Crusaders simply hope Jordan Hollins-Buckner will get to use it again during his senior season.

Hollins-Buckner suffered what appeared to be a severe knee injury on Wednesday evening during an 84-34 victory at Gregori.

The injury occurred early in the third quarter beneath the basket, where Hollins-Buckner landed awkwardly after following his shot.

“He said he heard his knee pop,” coach Richard Midgley said. “The way he reacted, you could just see he was in a lot of pain.”

Hollins-Buckner was scheduled to visit an orthopedic specialist on Friday to determine the severity of the injury, according to Midgley.

Regardless of the diagnosis, which wasn’t available by press time, Hollins-Buckner, one of only three players to appear in all 22 games at the time of his injury, has been ruled out indefinitely.

The timing couldn’t be any worse.

The Crusaders (21-1) host Capital Christian (13-8) in a non-league matchup of Northern California powers on Saturday. Tip is at 6 p.m.

After that, Modesto Christian has three games left in the Modesto Metro Conference before the postseason begins. The Crusaders, a Northern California Open Division finalist a year ago, will start their journey with the Sac-Joaquin Section Division I tournament.

They’ll likely have to play without their top three-point shooter.

“Jordan is a big part of what we do,” Midgley said. “He played a lot last year and he played a lot this year. He understands what we’re looking for on offense, and he fits in great with the way he plays.”

Hollins-Buckner is the second player from the MMC to suffer a severe knee injury. Beyer senior point guard Georgie Dancer had his season come to an abrupt end on a drive during a Jan. 22 victory over Downey.

“If it comes to that and we don’t have him, it’s going to be a big loss,” Midgley said of the 6-foot-2 Hollins-Buckner, third on the team in scoring at 8.1 points per game.

Midgley said he felt sick after Hollins-Buckner left the game.

In many respects, Hollins-Buckner represents the growth of the program.

Following the Crusaders’ season-ending 56-47 loss to eventual state champion Bishop O’Dowd in the NorCal final last year, Midgley and his staff evaluated the talent coming back.

How could Modesto Christian improve upon its finish?

In a word: Shooting.

“If we could have shot the ball better as a team, we could have maybe won that game,” Midgley said. “It became a conscious effort and something we worked on through the offseason. Everyone put in a lot of time.”

No one experienced an uptick in production quite like Hollins-Buckner, who is connecting on 37 percent of his three-point shots. His 30 triples are one better than teammates Jay Chen, also shooting 37 percent.

In the 2014-15 season, Hollins-Buckner made just 8 of 35 shots from beyond the arc.

“He’s put in a lot of time, along with the other guys, but Jordan is a senior,” Midgley said. “I literally felt sick the rest of the game. Jordan has aspirations to play beyond this year. Hopefully, it’s not too bad, but it’s sad to see a guy that has been working so hard potentially have a bad injury.”

Hollins-Buckner will be spelled by junior Darrian Grays (5.3 points per game) and sophomore Tyler Williams (4.7 points), who returned from a foot injury against Gregori.

The Crusaders could also go big with senior forwards Nico Rojas-Rojas (3.5 points, 2.5 rebounds) and Juan Morales Vargas (4.6 points, 1.9 rebounds).

“It’s another opportunity for members of this team,” Midgley said. “We have other guys who will step up in that role. ... We have a lot of different options.”

Capital Christian will test Modesto Christian’s depth. The Cougars are ranked tenth in the Sac-Joaquin Section, according to MaxPreps, and feature the Chappell brothers, Ryan and Zachary.

The Crusaders are No. 2 in the same poll and one of only two SJS teams to appear in Cal-Hi Sports’ state Top 10. Modesto Christian is holding strong at No. 6, two spots ahead of Folsom.

Saturday’s nonleague matchup will serve as a tuneup for the section’s Division-I tournament. Capital Christian will have played three of the title contenders: Modesto Christian; Folsom (lost 80-53); and Sheldon (lost 85-68), ranked 20th in the state.

“They’re always one of the top teams in our area, year in and year out,” Midgley said of Capital Christian. “We have a history of playing them. We played them the last two or three seasons, and we like to do it at the end of the year. It’s a good test for us and hopefully, it sends us on a playoff run.”

This story was originally published February 5, 2016 at 6:10 PM with the headline "Modesto Christian boys will take on Capital Christian without sharpshooter."