Westminster Christian coach Ronnie Stapler has been a part of Huntsville-area basketball for more than six decades and his current team may be the best of the lot.

However, it’s the joy of this team that has Stapler admitting to having the most fun in his career.

“I still enjoy the game preparation, I still enjoy the walkthrough, I still enjoy all of that,” he said.

The top-ranked Wildcats re-established their defensive identity in the second half and rallied from nine points down in the final period to earn a 55-51 victory over No. 4 Deshler in Thursday’s Class 4A Northwest Regional final at Wallace-Hanceville’s Tom Drake Coliseum.

Westminster Christian (28-3) opened the contest with a quick shot from Chase McCarty in the first minutes, but the Tigers countered with a 5-0 personal run by Deshler’s KJ Anderson. The Wildcats responded with their own 9-0 run, taking an 11-5 lead midway through the period but allowed Deshler to close the quarter on an 11-5 run powered by two 3-pointers from Anderson.

The Tigers took control early in the second period, pushing ahead 21-18 on a 3-pointer from Anderson, and extended the advantage to 31-25 on an Anderson 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

Westminster Christian reasserted itself defensively at the break and opened the second half with an 11-3 run to surge ahead 36-34 midway through the third period. Deshler got a quick layup from Jakari Bland and a pair of free throws from Tae Fuqua to close out the frame with a 38-36 lead over the Wildcats.

Deshler (27-6) built its largest lead early in the final stanza with Dee Newsom powering a 7-0 opening run by the Tigers for a 45-36 lead with 6:33 remaining. But the Wildcats’ McCarty and Rickard combined for a 12-4 run to pull within a single point at the 3:01 mark of the period. Deshler extended the lead to three points but McCarty scored twice in the final two minutes to swing momentum and the lead, 52-51, back to Westminster Christian.

The Tigers had an opportunity to retake the lead with less than a minute remaining, but Lawson Collier blocked an open layup attempt and Rickard was eventually fouled on the other end.

“If Lawson didn’t block that, they go up two or three at that point in time,” Rickard said. “If he doesn’t block that, it’s a downward spiral. But he gets that block, we get another stop and go down and get fouled. It put our team in a better place to win.”

Rickard hit 1-of-2 free throws to put the Wildcats up 53-51 with 27.6 seconds remaining and freshman Isaiah Cleaves hit a pair with nine seconds left to complete a 7-0 closing run in the final 2:21 of the game.

Did you know? Westminster Christian advances to its fifth state tournament in program history and its first since the 2019 season. The Wildcats won a state title in 2016.

All-Tournament Team: Westminster Christian’s Chase McCarty was named tournament MVP and Kaden Rickard was also selected to the all-tournament team. Joining them were Deshler’s Dee Newsome and KJ Anderson, Haleyville’s Drake James and West Morgan’s Carson Muse.

By the numbers: The Wildcats finished shooting 46.8 percent overall, forced 14 turnovers that resulted in 13 points and earned a plus-4 edge on the glass and plus-10 advantage on inside scoring. Deshler was 40.9 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from 3-point range.

Stat sheet: Westminster Christian – McCarty led the Wildcats with a game-high 23 points, including four rebounds, and Rickard finished with 13 points, six boards and two steals. Jackson Hammond had seven points, three rebounds and two blocks, followed by Tyler Engle with four points, six rebounds and two steals, and Eric Robinson had four points, four rebounds and three assists. Deshler – Anderson finished with a team-high 21 points, adding six rebounds, and Newsome had 13 points and three boards. Dadrian Sanders contributed four points, four boards and four assists.

Coachspeak: “I’m really proud of these guys. We were out of character, who we are, in the first half. Really proud of these guys in the second half. We turned it up on the defensive end and got some offense going by getting some takeaways from them. The funny thing about these guys, when we were down eight or nine, it was the same even keel. They didn’t get tore up and there was never any doubt we were going to have a chance to win that game.” — Westminster Christian’s Ronnie Stapler

“Tough game. They did everything we asked them to do. They emptied the tank. Couldn’t ask them to play any harder. Couldn’t ask them to play any better. If we play them 10 times, we’d win five. I may be foolish by some people saying that but I believe in my guys. I believe in what they can do and they showed it.” — Deshler’s Brian Pounders

They said it: “I had to play better defense (in the second half). I got up into my man and did what I had to do on the other end.” — Rickard on second-half defense

“We were all getting beat off the dribble. We weren’t helping as a team but we got momentum after Kaden’s two dunks and steals. But without that stop, we probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now. We’d be on the bus heading home. We wouldn’t win without it.” — McCarty on final defensive stop in fourth period

What’s next? Westminster Christian advances to face Montgomery Catholic at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday in the state semifinal at BJCC’s Legacy Arena.