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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTGOMERY – The Evangel Christian Lightning had a dominant 2023-24 season, but the biggest question at the end of it was how they would top this next year.

It turns out, they found a way to do just that.

Evangel secured its second-straight Alabama Christian Schools Conference tournament championship with a 101-68 win over the East Central HomeSchool Patriots on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Faulkner University.

The win capped off a 25-1 season with the Lightning’s lone blemish coming in a two-point loss to rival Ezekiel that they later avenged.

“Attitude through adversity has been my message for years now, and that was on full display Saturday at Faulkner University,” Evangel coach Hagan Joiner said. “Evangel has been a special place to me and my family, and God has blessed us with a special group of young men this season.”

Evangel entered the conference tournament as the No. 1 seed and faced off against the Wiregrass Kings in the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 15.

The Lightning had the early edge in the semifinal contest and took a 23-16 lead into the first quarter. From there, Evangel’s offense continued paving the way for success as it scored 22 points in the second quarter to head into the halftime break with a 45-32 lead.

The Lightning defense put together an improved effort in the third quarter and surrendered just 11 points. Evangel kept pouring on the points and led 68-43 at the end of the third, paving the way for a 76-48 victory.

Asa Wagoner led the Lightning with 11 points and six rebounds while Nick Cloud had 10 points, six rebounds and four assists and Cade Joiner earned 10 points and three steals. Ben Bugnar scored nine points, Hudson Walker secured eight points and Sawyer Blackmon and Will Welch each finished with six points while Blackmon had four rebounds as well.

The next day, Evangel faced an even stiffer test to start its championship matchup against East Central.

The Lightning offense continued its strong form early on with 25 points in the first quarter, but they kept the window open for the Patriots by allowing them to score 16 points during that stretch and trail by nine going into the second.

East Central’s defense then frustrated Evangel and held it to just 15 points in the second. The Patriots then outscored the Lightning by four in the remaining minutes of the half to cut the deficit to 40-35 at the break.

Evangel bounced back on the offensive end in the third quarter, but East Central continued to make a game of it by nearly matching the Lightning’s scoring output in the first eight minutes of the third.

Evangel managed to outscore the Patriots 22-21 in the third to head into the fourth quarter with a 62-56 lead after trailing by five earlier in the quarter.

With the game handing in the balance, coach Joiner helped his team understand the gravity of the moment and the need to step up down the stretch.

“Before the fourth quarter, I explained to the guys that this moment was theirs for the taking, and that this was a legacy game for these seniors win or lose,” coach Joiner said.

The Lightning took command of the final period, opening the fourth on a 39-9 run with one of their most complete performances of the entire season.

The effort on the offensive and defensive end pushed them to a 33-point win after trailing going into the fourth, securing the second-straight state title.

Bugnar led Evangel with 19 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Joiner finished with 13 points and four rebounds, Hudson Walker had 11 points, three rebounds and three blocks and Gill had 10 points, seven boards and three blocks.

Paul Dixon earned eight points, four assists and three steals, Sawyer Blackman had eight points and three rebounds and Michael Gobel finished with six points and three rebounds.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the unselfishness of this group to buy in to a 10-12-man rotation, but at the end, our depth was our strength,” coach Joiner said. “Hats off to East Central. Those guys came prepared and ready to compete. The scoreboard doesn’t indicate how good of a ball game this was.”

Bugnar was named the tournament MVP while he, Joiner and Gill made the All-Tournament team. Joiner also made the All-Conference team for the regular season.