WINONA — Led by the 30 points of senior CJ Moore, the St. Joseph Catholic School boys basketball team went into a hostile environment and came home to Greenville with the District 2-4A Championship on Saturday.
St. Joseph Coach James Hunter called his team’s 60-55 victory over host Winona Christian in the championship game a total team effort.
“It was a tough ball game, and we played in front of a real tough crowd, but we did the things we needed to in order to win the game,” Coach Hunter said.
Coach Hunter added that the play of Moore has been higher and higher as the season reaches its conclusion.
Moore scored 16 of his points Saturday in the second half.
"CJ just took over the game, and he played tremendous in the second half," Coach Hunter said.
St. Joe’s Kye Nelson added 12 points in the Irish (14-3).
St. Joseph reached the finals by defeating Carroll Academy 58-37 in the championship game.
Saturday’s championship game was the third straight battle that Coach Hunter’s Irish and the Stars from Winona Christian have had this season. The two teams split a pair of games in the regular season.
The Irish are hoping to win their third state championship in the last four years. This week they will be competing in the North 4A Basketball Tournament at Lee Academy. They are scheduled to play their first game either Wednesday or Thursday.
“We are excited to be district champions, but I told my team right after the game we want to win the North State Championship. We came in second place at North State last year to Rossville Christian, and that left a bad taste in our mouths.”
