Nelson Warriors head to Conference Championship

Mark your calendars! Your Nelson Warriors (21-5) will play for the SWS Conference Championship game on Saturday March 1, at 4pm following an impressive 101-86 victory over Bethesda University, Nelson's third victory over the Lion Warriors this season, and the 13th time this season the Warriors have scored at least 100 points in a game.

"I am thrilled for our guys," celebrated head coach Kole Ebert following the victory, among the cheers and excitement of his club. "They played their hearts out today and it paid off. Our hats are off to Bethesda who gave us a really good challenge. We'll soak this in for a little bit, but our focus has to quickly shift to tomorrow and the conference championship game."

Despite shooting well, the Warriors found themselves trailing by six points with 1:24 remaining in the first half following a quick 7-0 Lion Warriors run. However, undeterred, the Warriors came out of a timeout with five quick points, then following a Miles Sulka turnover, Tommy Randolph snuck in a little push shot at the buzzer for a 48-47 lead.

Again falling behind by seven points six minutes into the second half, the Warriors put together a second 7-0 run highlighted by a clutch Tommy Randolph and-one conversion. Then, like two equally strengthed boxers, the two teams traded punches until around the 4 minute mark in the second half when a Zaveion Bineyard three-point play opened the floodgates for a now patented 20-6 run, propelling the flying Phoenicians to pull away for good.

The team's three all-conference first team representatives were led by Rob Jenkins who finished with a team-high 26 points including 4 3's, his highest-scoring output since he dropped 28 points exactly one month ago tonight. Adding 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals, a brief solo 5-0 run helped ignite his team's final game-winning stretch. Despite falling ten short of his school-record 13 3's in the two team's final regular season meeting, Harley Upton still drained 3-6 from beyond the arc, stretching his record of making at least one 3-pointer in every game this season to 26 games, finishing with 18 points and 6 rebounds. Zaveion Bineyard followed up with 21 points on 8-13 shooting, grabbing 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

All-conference second team representative Terrin Ross recorded 10 points and 6 rebounds, although played much of the game in foul trouble, finishing with 4.

Tommy Randolph and Larry Holmes were the team's lone reservists to see the floor, each scoring 13 points, while starting point guard Orlando Gonzales calmly led the offense with his consistent and stabilizing play.

Guard Taeo Thomas led his Lion Warriors with a game-high 27 points, while forward Kameron Mayhan finished with 19 points and 7 rebounds.

Up next for the Warriors is the SWS Conference Championship game at West Coast Baptist University.

Do not forget to follow Nelson Athletics on X at @NelsonWarriors and Instagram at @nelsonwarriors.athletics.