Youngsters aren’t going to get the song references in the title, but old heads who are cheering on their kids will remember Raphael Saadiq’s album Instant Vintage and GangStar’s Step into the Arena. Cordova vs Whitehaven was like classic Hip-Hop and R&B; an old school battle with everything on the line.
The vibes felt like the old days, the game was packed, the crowd was into it, and everyone was on their feet at the end. If you didn’t stand up, you couldn’t see the action. I was ecstatic about it. It showed me how the game remains an emotional and electric atmosphere in a time when social media only paints the city as negative. I wish I saw this engagement more, but it let me know this city still loves high school basketball.
I gotta go with the Play Play to try and recreate the excitement.
Whitehaven was up 15-5 early on, a guy next to me said, “Cordova might get smoked.”
I said to him, “I wouldn’t count out Cordova just yet.”
He said, “why not, Cordova looks suspect.”
I responded, “They have 2 guys who can take over a game.” No sooner than I finished, The Wolves went on an 18-5 run and Cordova was up 3, 26-23 in the 2nd quarter from a Julius Thedford 3 pointer.
Let me say this, you have to put a lot of respect on JT’s name, but I will get to that in a minute.
- Thedford hit another 3 to make it 31-23
- His teammate, KJ Tenner, hit a floater to make it 35-25 and added another bucket to end the half up 10, 37-27.
After the break, Whitehaven’s 2025 6’6 Cameron Brown hit two 3 pointers to start the 3rd. This started the engine on the Tigers offense. Coach Kemp must have dipped in the Coach Cal bag of tricks to deliver one of those fiery speeches he learned at the U of M. Their locker room talk must have included this as well: Get Bob Dickson the ball and they did just that.
- Kody Hickerson hit a 3 pointer off a steal,
- King Thedford scored off the drive baseline and added another 2 points shortly after
- 6’6 2026 Dorion Bowen hit a mid-range jumper and this game suddenly had a different feel.
- King Thedford appeared to be injured with 1 second driving the ball to the rim.
- Whitehaven went up to end the 3rd.
With the game in the balance and an entire quarter remaining, everyone in the gym wondered if would he miss time in the 4th with an apparent injury?
- Heading into the 4th Whitehaven went up 3 with 6;25 remaining.
- Azavier Zanders hit a top of the key 3 to tie it up, a huge shot for the Wolves at that point.
- Zanders was right there again with 2 huge moments in the 4th. He hit a timely reverse that kept it a 2-point ball game.
- Dickson scored again to make it 63-60.
Remember Thedford’s leg injury? Forget about it… throw that out the window, he dropped a 3 ball to tie the game. Cordova had the ball with 14 seconds and a chance to win. Great defense by Whitehaven forced a jump ball/turnover and gave them a shot with 5 seconds but they came up short, overtime.
After a charge call on Cordova with 1:08 remaining in the game, the Wolves were facing a setting moon. Down 4, 70-66 after 2 free throws by Whitehaven, things seemed gloomy.
Revisit the exchange I had with the fan up top. Let’s go:
- Cordova had a 3-pointer blocked but Tenner got possession and went and scored it over 6’8 Dickson to make it a 2 point game.
- Whitehaven was fouled but missed 1 of 2 free throws to make it 71-68.
Free throws were huge in this one for Whitehaven, missed ones that is. The score was 71-68.
- King Thedford turned into Steph Curry by splashing home a huge 3 ball!
- Tie game with 31 seconds left.
- Whitehaven would force a turnover under 15 seconds, but Thedford was fouled.
- He made both free throws, 73-71
- Whitehaven couldn’t get a shot off with 9 seconds left and Cordova put themselves in the region title game against Bartlett.
Thoughts
- Free throws for Whitehaven, they missed 12-13. The offseason is where you get better. Instead of travel ball, kids need to build their skills. When two teams are pretty evenly matched, it comes down to things like that and they couldn’t cash them in when they had to. It’s not the only reason they lost but it was a part of it.
- Cordova’s duo of Tenner and Thedford, I can’t say enough about them. Phenomenal games for both, combined for 58 points, efficient shooting, timely shots. Thedford had times where it looked like he was the best player in the city as well as his teammate, Tenner. Thedford in his old gym put on that performance, wow. When he’s rising up and making shots, particularly that 3, he’s tough to stop.
- When they went down early by 10, Cordova didn’t panic. They didn’t start taking a lot of wild shots, trying to hit home runs on every play. They were patient and Tenner started to assert himself and draw fouls and go to the free throw line. That game could have turned if they didn’t just stick to what made them successful all year.
- Cordova found a way and usually the better team does that. They make you pay for your mistakes. When Whitehaven didn’t rebound defensively, The Wolves scored. When the Tigers over played a passing lane, Cordova scored. When the Wolves turned Whitehaven over, they scored. They made key free throws as well which was huge down the stretch. 2 free throws won the game for them. That’s the mark of a title contending team.
- Whitehaven will be back; all starters are juniors except 1 so don’t expect much of a drop off next season for them. I’m really excited to see all their progression through the summer. They could go into next year as state favorites out of Memphis.
