Modesto Christian boys hold off St. Francis in NorCal Open basketball

Jordan Hollins-Buckner never lost confidence.

Not when his knee buckled and cost him four games. Not when he was replaced in the starting lineup by a sophomore.

And certainly not when his shot wasn’t falling in a 54-51 win over Saint Francis of Mountain View in the first round of the CIF Northern California Regional Open Division tournament.

Shooters shoot, plain and simple. So with the season hanging in the balance, Hollins-Buckner kept firing until the Crusaders created just enough distance between themselves and the Lancers.

The 6-foot-1 senior scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, including five in a row to give Modesto Christian a 46-39 lead with just under four minutes remaining.

“It’s always a different guy,” Modesto Christian coach Richard Midgley said. “Christian (Ellis) and Robinson (Idehen) get a lot of the attention, but today Jordan … Like I’ve told people, when you need a big shot, he’s ready to hit it. There were a couple of shots he hit in the fourth that kind of gave us a little space.”

The Lancers (26-3) made a spirited charge and cut the deficit to 53-51 with 19 seconds left but failed to execute on their final possession. Saint Francis’ Curtis Witt hurried the ball up the floor after a missed free throw with 13.2 seconds left but was driven into the corner by Darrian Grays and Hollins-Buckner, who rehearsed that type of late-game, pressure defense in practice.

“I’m just thinking, we can’t let him shoot a three. We’re trying to amp up the pressure and not let him get up a shot,” Hollins-Buckner said. “ ... When it transfers into the game, we know what to do; we know how to stop the ball.”

Witt was rescued by a timeout with 1.6 seconds remaining.

So efficient in dead-ball situations through 31 minutes, the crowd anticipated a dramatic final shot off the hand of Noah Stapes. Headed to Point Loma Nazarene, Stapes entertained a capacity crowd with his NBA range. He had a game-high 21 points and made five three-pointers, including a third-quarter trey off a well-designed inbound play.

“He’s tough match-up. We had our rules, the way we wanted to play him,” Midgley said. “He got open a couple of times early and got a comfort level. He’s the one that kept them in it.”

The final shot never materialized. Logan Johnson’s inbound pass to Stapes in the corner was off the mark. The throw deflected off his hand and out of bounds, giving possession to Modesto Christian.

Ellis was fouled, then knocked down one of two free throws to create the final margin of victory.

“We had a lead toward the end, but they’re such a great team, so used to winning, that they made the plays to keep them in it,” Midgley said. “You have to grind them out, and we’re very proud of the team for getting it done.”

The Crusaders will host Sheldon at Modesto Junior College on Tuesday evening at 7. It’s a rematch of their Sac-Joaquin Section Division I semifinal, won by the Crusaders 74-67.

Modesto Christian has won 31 consecutive games and beat its third consecutive state-ranked opponent despite its struggles at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. The Crusaders were 10 of 17 in the final period and missed four in the final 30 seconds.

“Our guys feel the pressure, but I have faith in our guys,” Midgley said. “Hey, we knocked down enough of them to get it done. Very proud of the effort to get defensive stops and get rebounds when we needed to.”

Jay Chen was 4 for 5 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and finished with a team-high 15 points. Grays had 12 for the Crusaders (31-1), who went long stretches without much from their two cornerstones, Idehen and Ellis. Ellis had six points, six rebounds and three assists but sat most of the second quarter in foul trouble. Crowded by the double and triple teams, Idehen also had six points and six rebounds.

That gave Hollins-Buckner a chance to return to a starring role. He missed four games because of a knee injury in February and lost his starting job to Grays, a sophomore with a similar stroke.

No matter. Hollins-Buckner has been on the floor in the fourth quarter of the last two games. He hit a clutch three-pointer to give Modesto Christian an 11-point lead over Folsom in the Division I section title game, and then did it again Friday.

Hollins-Buckner was 2 for 4 from the field, 2 of 3 from the free-throw line and came up with the defensive stop in the waning seconds.

“Jordan was big off the bench today. He’s a senior and he’s been here before. He knows what it takes,” Midgley said. “Like I keep telling him, we need him just as much as we need everyone else. He stepped up big today … probably as big as anyone.”

Modesto Christian got off to a rocket start. Idehen blocked three shots in the first quarter, the last resulting in a two-handed flush by Josthin Dawkins (six points) to make it 13-6.

Dawkins scored five consecutive points in the quarter as Modesto Christian threatened to pull away from the Central Coast Open champions early, but the Lancers wouldn’t be embarrassed.

Stapes, a 6-5 forward with seemingly unlimited range, tallied 13 of Saint Francis’ 22 points in the first half. He buried back-to-back NBA three-pointers in the second quarter as the Lancers roared back with a 10-2 run.

Stapes was 5 of 13 from beyond the arc, and his last in that second-quarter series made it 21-all.

It was a heat check, too. Stapes stepped inside Idehen and launched from about 5 feet behind the line.

Chen stabilized the Crusaders, who closed the half on a 6-1 run. Chen scored all six points, attacking the rim.

“Christian was in foul trouble, so others had to step up. I needed to create the play or make the basket,” Chen said. “I saw the open shots, so I took them. I didn’t hesitate. Coach tells me, ‘If you’re open, take them. Don’t worry if the shots will go down.’ ”

Shooters shoot.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 10:50 PM with the headline "Modesto Christian boys hold off St. Francis in NorCal Open basketball."