Cumberland Athletics Basketball began play in the Kentucky Christian School Athletic Association (KCSAA) state tournament Friday at the Mid-America Center in Louisville, Kentucky. The Blazers were placed in the 2A bracket earlier in the week with with Annville and Oakdale taking the first and second seeds followed by Georgetown, Christian Academy of Lawrenceburg, Mount Carmel, and Cumberland.

The first action of the day saw the Blazers take on the Mount Carmel Lions for a 10am tip. After a good start, Cumberland led by one at the half for a 20-19 halftime score. The Blazers came out strong in the third and outscored the Lions 21-11. Although Mount Carmel came back with a run in the fourth period, it wasn’t enough and Cumberland secured the win 58-54.

Tanner Pilarski led the charge for the Blazers with 17. All five starters scored double digits.

The win against the Lions brought the Blazers to their second game of the day against the Oakdale Wildcats. In their only meeting this season in January, Oakdale pulled off a go-ahead layup to end the game and win by two. The Blazers were ready for revenge, but the Wildcats kept it tight throughout. With the score tied moving into the fourth, Cumberland took the reins and outscored the Wildcats down the stretch by 6 for a 64-58 final.

Tanner Pilarski dropped 23 for the Blazers, with Shane Jung and Ben Pruette adding 17 and 13 respectively.

Cumberland will take on Christian Academy of Lawrenceburg (CAL) at 10am Saturday for the KCSAA 2A Championship. This will be the first meeting of the season for these two teams. CAL knocked off number one seed Annville on Friday.

Cumberland Homeschool Athletic Teams, Inc is a 501c3 nonprofit organization designed to provide opportunities for K-12 student athletes to participate in competitive athletics principally in the Cumberland Valley region of Southeast Kentucky.