Late in the Select Division IV state championship game at Burton Coliseum Friday, Hamilton Christian head coach Dexter Washington started having flashbacks from the Warriors trip to the Cajundome in 2022 and a last-second loss to Southern Lab in the semifinals.

Down four points in the closing minutes, the Warriors came up with big plays to beat Southern Lab and win their first state championship in program history, 61-58.

“I went back to the Cajundome for a moment when they (Southern Lab) took the lead,” Washington said. “I said to myself on the sideline ‘It can’t happen again, no way.”

Southern Lab’s Tyree Riley made a 3-pointer play to put the Kittens up 56-52 with 2:36 left.

But Washington’s ‘Big three’ – Javon Vital, Seth Ned and Chris Rideau – lifted the Warriors (20-7).

With just over two minutes left, Ned passed the ball to Rideau for a crucial 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one.

“My big three led us all year. Seth (Ned) shot the ball really well early. Chris hit a dagger late in the game. When he made that shot, I felt a glimmer of hope again.”

The Warriors forced the Kittens (21-8) into turnovers on their next two possessions, and Vital floater in the lane and scored on an offensive rebound for a 59-58 lead with 30 seconds left.

“He looked at me and I looked at him, and I said, ‘Don’t let it go down this way’,” Washington said. “He stepped and did what he had to do and killed the run.”

Vital was named the game MVP with 20 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, two blocks and three steals, including one with three seconds left to seal the win.

“Coach always preaches to us that when the moments get tough, come closer together,” Vital said. “We came closer together, and our leader, Seth Ned, told us to all to stay together. We needed a big steal, and I got that steal”

Ned scored 20 points, including four 3-pointers, in his final game as a Warrior, and Rideau finished with 10 points.

It was the seventh time that Washington had brought the Warriors to the state tournament since 2017, and Washington said he was feeling the pressure to finally bring home a state championship.

“My parents, my brother, my sister all flew,” Washington said. “I had to win today.

“I would have been under so much pressure after the game about what should have, would have, could have done.”

Hamilton Christian led the entire first half by as many as 12 points. The Warriors shot 68.5 percent from the field in the first half and led 37-26 at halftime.

Southern Lab started a 9-0 run with less than a minute left in the third quarter. The Kittens tied the game on a 3-pointer by Channing Briggs and took a 49-47 lead on Warren Gougisha’s fastbreak with less than five minutes left.

“I knew they would,” Washington said. “I didn’t think that it would come that early, but I knew he would.

“I watched the game against Lincoln Prep. They went up and all of the sudden, they (Southern) come clawing back. We talked about it all the time. The Hamilton way is we are going to fight to the end. We are going to fight. We never stopped believing.”