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Cornerstone is heading to the AISA Elite Eight as the Class A, Region 1 champion after winning its final six games in region play, including three games in four days this past weekend. (For the Reporter/Mandy Sanders)

By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

The Cornerstone Christian Chargers brushed off a tight loss in their region opener on Jan. 3 against the Heritage Christian Eagles and have gone on a tear ever since, and as a result, they are walking into the playoffs with some hardware as region champions.

Cornerstone won the AISA Class A, Region 1 championship after finishing region play on Monday, Feb. 3 with a 6-1 record, winning each of their last six region games to finish in first place.

That included a grueling stretch of three region games to cap off a stretch of four games in five days, taking a 59-30 win over the North River Christian Chargers at home on Friday, Jan. 31, a 64-46 revenge win on the road at Heritage Christian on Saturday, Feb. 1 and a 49-41 victory over Hope Christian at home on Monday, Feb. 3.

The Chargers improved to 7-8 overall with the win but have gone 7-4 since the start of 2025. That includes a season series sweep of Coosa Valley and road wins at Hope and North River to get back on track after the region-opening defeat to Heritage.

After the 68-47 road win at North River on Monday, Jan. 27, Cornerstone prepared for its marathon run that began on Thursday, Jan. 30 with a 59-52 road loss to Restoration Academy.

That next night, Cornerstone took early control of its second game of the week against North River in the battle of the Chargers. Zeke Adams, Malachi Adams and Noah Schober each scored a pair of baskets in the first quarter to combine for 14 points and put the hosts up 14-8 after the opening period.

Cornerstone’s defense only intensified in the second quarter, surrendering just five points to give it a chance to take a firm hold on the lead.

The Adams family continued to lead the charge for the offense, dropping 17 of their team’s 19 second-quarter points as Malachi scored a pair of 3-pointers while Zeke went to work inside the arc.

As a result, Cornerstone took a 33-13 lead into the halftime break and continued to roll from there.

Cornerstone outscored North River 16-10 in the third quarter as its three top scorers in Zeke Adams, Malachi Adams and Schober kept finding the basket early and often. Zeke added six points to his double-digit scoring night while Malachi and Schober had five points each in the third.

After taking a 49-23 lead into the fourth quarter, Cornerstone continued to command the game as bench players like Seth Dillard and Cohen Hewitt took the reins and scored in the final minutes, sealing the 29-point victory to sweep the season series with North River.

Zeke Adams led Cornerstone with 24 points and Malachi Adams finished with 20 points. Schober scored nine points and Dillard earned four points.

The win gave the Chargers momentum heading into a crucial road showdown with Heritage, the only team that Cornerstone had lost to in region play.

The Chargers took the fight to the Eagles early on as Malachi Adams and Hewitt each hit 3-pointers in the first quarter while Zeke Adams scored his first four points of the night.

That gave Cornerstone a 13-10 lead after the first quarter as it outpaced Heritage in the opening minutes of the game.

The Chargers continued to remain in front in the second quarter even as they couldn’t find much offense from the floor. However, they did get crucial points from the free throw line as Malachi Adams went 4-for-5 and Schober went 3-for-4 from the charity stripe in the second.

The pair combined for all 13 of Cornerstone’s second quarter points, which gave the visitors a 26-18 lead at the halftime break.

The Chargers put their foot on the pedal in the third quarter, scoring 21 points while limiting Heritage to just 12. While both teams had their best offensive showing to that point in the third, Dillard helped push Cornerstone even more in front with his first eight points.

Zeke Adams added five points and Malachi Adams scored five more points after entering double figures in the first half, and the Chargers went into the fourth with a 47-30 lead.

Both teams continued to score frequently in the fourth quarter, but Malachi Adams and Schober made sure that Heritage couldn’t close the gap. Malachi dropped nine points in the fourth to cap off a team-high 26-point day while Schober scored six more points to finish off 18-point victory.

In addition to Malachi’s strong performance, Schober scored 14 points, Zeke Adams had 11 points, Dillard posted eight points and Hewitt rounded out the scoring with five points.

Cornerstone then wrapped up region play two days later with a close 49-45 win over Hope.

After a balanced scoring effort gave the Chargers a 7-6 lead after the first quarter, the Adams brothers took over in the second quarter as Zeke scored seven points and Malachi added four points to his total. However, Cornerstone surrendered 15 points in the second and fell behind 21-18 at the break.

The Chargers bounced back during a high-scoring third quarter. Keaton Keef hit a pair of 3-pointers while scoring eight points in the third to get into double figures. The Adams brothers combined for nine points as Cornerstone outscored Hope 20-16 in the third.

As a result, the Chargers took a 38-37 lead into the fourth quarter and fought hard to keep it down the stretch. Hewitt knocked down two 3-pointers in the final minutes while Zeke and Malachi Adams made crucial free throws to seal the four-point win and the region title.

Zeke Adams led four different double-digit scorers with 15 points while Malachi Adams added 13 points and Hewitt and Keef each recorded 10 points.

With the region title, the Chargers have a bye into the Elite Eight and will play the winner of Saturday, Feb. 8’s game between Snook and Meadowview Christian on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 10:30 a.m. at the Cramton Bowl Multiplex.

Cornerstone’s girls team will have a chance to join the boys in the Elite Eight if it wins its first round game against Crenshaw Christian on Friday, Feb. 7 at 6 p.m. at Cornerstone Christian School.

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