Respect earned: Cornerstone Christian routs Branson, wins NCS D-III title

There are steps to become elite, a process that requires patience and resilience, talent and determination.

Cornerstone Christian is taking those steps and enjoying the scenery and hardware along the way. Two years ago, this small Antioch private school won North Coast Section and NorCal Division VI championships. Last season, it was promoted to Division III for the section playoffs and was out after the first round.

Back in Division III again, having tested itself during the season with games against the likes of Archbishop Mitty, San Ramon Valley and Oakland Tech, Cornerstone was ready for the higher classification.

On Friday night, the second-seeded Cougars traveled to the North Bay and completed a dominant run through the D-III bracket with an 81-65 victory over top-seeded Branson at College of Marin.

Cornerstone stretched its winning streak to 13 games and improved to 24-8 while bringing home another banner for its gym.

“It was a great moment for the school; it was a great moment for our team,” coach Michael Thomasson said. “Something that we’ve been working toward this whole year. To see it come true, I can’t really put into words. Hard to explain. I am filled with emotion right now.

“So proud of these young men and what they have had to go through, all the adversity we had to fight through as a team. Now we can call ourselves champions. But we’re not done yet.”

James Perry had what Thomasson described as “one of the games of his life.” The 6-foot-7 junior, a transfer from Freedom, scored 35 points as Cornerstone broke up the game in the fourth quarter to win the program’s second NCS championship.

The Cougars also got 17 points from Amari Woodard and 15 from Benjamin Lukacs.

Cornerstone won all four of its NCS playoff games by double-digit margins, a testament to how much the team improved since last season. But the program wants more than a section title. Because there isn’t Division VI in the Southern California regional, Cornerstone didn’t get to play in Sacramento when it won a NorCal championship two years ago.

That won’t be the case if the Cougars capture a NorCal title this time.

“The journey’s that grind,” Thomasson said. “Getting parents to believe in our vision. Getting kids to believe in our vision. It’s not how you start. It’s only how you finish. Right now, we are poised to continue this run and ultimately try to get to Sacramento and do something that our school and our area has never done before.

“We’re in the process of trying to put Cornerstone on the map and put the Antioch area, Pittsburg area on the map for basketball. There is good basketball out where we’re at, and we’re out to prove and show everybody just how good we are.”

Now Thomasson and his team will wait for their NorCal seeding. The brackets come out Sunday.

Asked what he is hoping for, the coach said, “Respect. That is meaning we get a home game. I want the respect that we’ve earned. I want the respect that we deserve. Honestly, if they don’t give us the respect, we’re going to go out and take it.”