By Chris Parker
The Chadwick boys basketball team spent the whole year preparing for Saturday’s state championship game with St. Elizabeth.
“These guys are battle tested,” Chadwick coach Shawn Guerin said. “We built a schedule that was impressive. For any Class 1 school to go do what we asked these guys to do night in and night out is second to none. It was the toughest schedule in Class 1 basketball.”
That tough schedule paid off in the form of a 72-53 win over St. Elizabeth to win the program’s second state title in as many years.
St. Elizabeth took an early 9-4 lead midway through the first quarter. From there, it was all Chadwick outscoring St. Elizabeth by 24 points from that time on.
Clayton Garrison was once again a force for which the opposing team had no answer. The reigning Class 1 Player of the Year had 30 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and two blocks.
“Have you seen his stat line all year? That is what he does,” Coach Guerin said.
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Garrison finishes his career as the best to ever put on a Chadwick uniform.
“No. 1. He is the greatest player that has ever come through here. There have been a lot great players, but from top to bottom across the board, nobody can do what 33 does,” Coach Guerin said.
The Cardinals have just two seniors in Garrison and Tristan Smith. They are a duo Guerin has coached since they were young kids.
“I’m going to miss them so much. I have coached them since (they were little). They mean a lot to Chadwick. They mean a lot to Chadwick. They mean a lot to those fans out there. They mean a lot to me and they mean a lot to (their teammates),” Coach Guerin said.
The road to a three-peat won’t be easy, but the Cardinals return a talented group.
“No one’s ever going to compete with Garrison’s legacy here. He is the greatest player at Chadwick ever. It is going to stay that way for a while,” Chadwick sophomore Creek Guerin said. “We will try our best, but it is going to be hard to compete with that.”
“Next year we are going to try and come back here, but it is going to be hard because Clayton and Tristan are probably the two best basketball players I have ever played with,” sophomore Prestin Kinyon said.
