Meadowview Christian came up short in their bid to win the AISA class AA state championship at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, Ala.

The Trojans (15-6) ended their season with a 53-36 loss to Crenshaw Christian (25-3) Academy Monday afternoon.

“Our guys played hard,” said Meadowview coach Robby Redd. “But Crenshaw had a great team and played well all game.”

The first quarter started out with cold shooting from Meadowview.

The Trojans remained scoreless until Justin Freine hit a jumper at the 4:32 mark.

Once that bucket fell Meadowview was able to find a rhythm and pull to within two before the buzzer sounded.

The second quarter was tightly contested the entire way.

The Trojans shot well and played good defense and was able to tie the game 20-20 going into the half.

The third quarter couldn’t have gone worse for Meadowview.

The Trojans had trouble breaking the press of Crenshaw and Meadowview turned the ball over eight times which led to easy buckets for the Cougars.

When the Trojans did keep the ball long enough to make a shot, they usually didn’t fall.

“They (Meadowview) played well in the first half,” said Redd. “But in the second we just couldn’t hit our shots.”

The combination saw the Trojans going into the fourth quarter trailing 37-22.

In the fourth, Meadowview tried to make a comeback.

Two quick three-pointers back to back by Freine brought the Trojans within 9 points, but Crenshaw was able to pull away from the foul line.

“They (Crenshaw) went 19-25 from the free throw line and we only hit 7-15, that’s the difference in the game,” said Redd.

Freine led the way in scoring for Meadowview with 17 points to go along with 8 rebounds.

Daniel Blackmon contributed 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Trojans before fouling out late in the fourth quarter.

Jake Hattaway from Crenshaw led all scorers with 23 points.