Springwood Battle Back to Defeat Valiant Cross, Advances to State Game

BASKETBALL: The Springwood School Wildcats shrugged off a massive second-half deficit to topple Valiant Cross 54-49 in a semifinal thriller in the semifinals of the AISA state tournament.

The Wildcats were down by nearly 20 points in the third quarter, but they staged a furious comeback to secure the win and advance to the state-championship game for a second straight year.

Springwood will face rival Chambers Academy in Friday’s championship game.

Springwood and Valiant Cross are familiar with one another. Valiant Cross beat Springwood 51-42 in the 2025 state-championship game, and Valiant Cross won both regular-season games this season.

For more than half of Thursday’s semifinal game, it looked like Valiant Cross was going to continue its recent domination of Springwood.

Leading 17-14 after the first quarter, Valiant Cross dominated the second quarter, outscoring Springwood 19-8 to build a 36-22 halftime lead.

Valiant Cross extended its lead to 19 points in the third quarter before Springwood began its charge.
Back-to-back baskets by Kori Key got the Wildcats within eight, and Wes Carden knocked down a 3-pointer to make it a 45-40 game, which was the score at the end of the third quarter.

The Wildcats kept the accelerator down at the start of the fourth quarter, with Clarence Moore knocking down a 3-pointer to get his team within two.
Wes Carden then made a 3-pointer of his own after Kori Key kept the possession alive with an offensive rebound, and the Wildcats had a 46-45 lead.
After Valiant Cross went back up by a point, Tucker Sides scored to put the Wildcats up 48-47 lead, and they held the lead the rest of the way.

With 56 seconds left, Carden scored and was fouled, and he made the free throw to extend the lead to 51-47. Valiant Cross got within three and had possession late, but Tucker Sides stood his ground and took a charge with 11 seconds to play. Adam Baltes made two free throws to push the lead to five, and when Valiant Cross missed a shot at the buzzer, the celebration was on.

Wes Carden made three 3-pointers and led Springwood with 13 points, Tucker Sides added 11 points, and Kori Key and Clarence Moore scored 10 points apiece. Tristan Hill made three big 3-pointers and scored nine points.