Fort Worth Christian punches ticket to TAPPS state championship after win over Faith
Stephen Mawire might be in his first year as the head boys basketball coach at Fort Worth Christian, but when he took the job, he knew FWC could have a great basketball program.
The Cardinals are one win away from the ultimate goal of their first state championship after they beat district rival Grapevine Faith, 72-65, in a TAPPS Class 5A state semifinal Tuesday night at Colleyville Heritage HS.
“You couldn’t ask for a better first year,” said Mawire, who leads FWC to its first state appearance since 1998.
Mawire will play a familiar foe when FWC (24-9) takes on The Woodlands Christian in the 5A state title game at 8:30 p.m. Friday at College Station HS. Mawire spent the previous four seasons with TWC.
“We have a lot of talent on this team. When we play together, special things can happen,” Mawire said. “It’s a dream job to coach at Fort Worth Christian. To get a state championship with this group of kids, you can’t ask for anything better.”
Trailing 14-10 with 3:35 left in the opening quarter, the Cardinals embarked on a 17-2 run. They got a quick five points, including a three-point play from junior Alex Bossinakis, who finished with a game-high 34 points.
FWC closed the first quarter with an 11-2 run and a Nate Bledsoe three-point play for a 21-16 advantage.
Bossinakis hit back-to-back three-pointers to extend the lead to 27-16 in the second and force a Faith timeout. Caleb Tackett assisted on a Alec Zambie basket and Bossinakis hit his third three of the period to give the Cardinals a 32-19 lead with four minutes before the break.
Bossinakis finished with 13 points in the second quarter and FWC led 38-27 at intermission.
“They like to get a lot of threes and layups so we made some adjustments on defense,” Bossinakis said. “I was able to hit some big shots. Lucky my teammates hit me in the right spot. Glad I could knock them down and do what I can to help the team win.”
Grant Rein’s short floater and a Josh Davis three helped Faith close to within 38-32 early in the third, but a Josh Lawson three-point play put the lead back to 11 midway through the period.
The Lions (24-9) made another push with nine straight points, including a Rein three that pulled them to 45-41 with two minutes left, but Zambie halted the run. Gage Morgan’s layup late cut the lead to 47-45 at the end of three.
But FWC would score the first seven points of the fourth.
“Coaching staff had a great game plan to get the ball in the middle and our defense played a big part tonight,” Zambie said. “Basketball is a game of runs. It was about not giving them too many. In the end, we had more runs, and fewer turnovers.”
A Davis three cut it to 54-50, but Bossinakis hit back-to-back jumpers and a Zambie dunk made it a 10-point game with 3:10 to play. FWC had its largest lead at 68-54 after a Courtland Barbarin floater.
“We dug in and every time we needed to score to push the lead back up, they did,” Mawire said. “They had some momentum at the end of the third quarter and we came out and had three timely possessions to really extend the lead and go out of reach.”
Davis led Faith with 20 points while Rein scored 11 of his 16 in the fourth.
Luke Stiefel and Ryan Blevins added 10 points apiece for the Lions.
Zambie finished with 19 points for the Cardinals. Bledsoe chipped in 11.
“One more game of my high school season and it makes sense it’s the state championship. We want to go out with a bang,” Zambie said. “It means everything especially to the school, not just me. You can’t ask for more, your rival, you kick them out and now one more game to finish strong.”
“Crazy game, crazy environment with so much at stake,” Bossinakis added. “It’s a great feeling. It means so much for our school. At the start of the year we wanted to make this a basketball school. It’s football heavy, but now we’re on a deep run. The team hasn’t won a state championship. We just have to go out Friday and get a win and bring some hype to the program.”
