The Chapman Irish lost 56-43 in the 3rd place game to Wichita Trinity, Saturday afternoon, at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center.  Chapman finished the season 19-6 and in 4th place at the tournament.  It was Irish’s best finish at State since 1982, that season, they finished in 3rd place.

Saturday’s loss for Chapman played out in similar fashion to their setback Friday night in the semifinals. The Irish were able to keep close in the first half.  They trailed 19-15 at the end of the first quarter. The Knights led 28-25 at halftime which is the exact score that Augusta led by at the half the night before.

Chapman fell behind by 10 points with 3:56 to play in the third quarter and like the night before they battled back in the 3rd quarter. The Irish went on an 8-0 run that was capped by an Izek Jackson bucket to pull them within 37-35 with 1:24 to play in the third quarter.  Chapman trailed 42-38 at the end of the quarter.  They also had a 5-1 differential in fouls in the quarter and they picked up a technical foul at the end of the third.  Wichita Trinity then captured the momentum and went on an 11-1 run to start the 4th.  The Knights outscored the Irish 14-5 in the final quarter.

Chapman was led in scoring by Jackson, the Senior, finished with a game-high 19 points on 9-14 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds.  Jackson scored 55 points in three games at state and did so on an amazing 27-37 73% shooting from the floor.

The Irish, as a team, struggled from the floor.  They shot 17-47 36%, 3-17 18% on three-pointers and 6-12 50% at the foul-line.

Trinity shot 22-47 47%, 6-18 33% and 6-9 68% in the game.  The Knights finished the year at 22-2 and were the top seed in the tournament.