The 2019-20 basketball season ended in disheartening manner for the CHS boys, with the 2A District playoffs in SuValley canceled late on Friday, March 13, due to the expanding coronavirus pandemic.
At that time, the Cordova Wolverines were scheduled to face off against SuValley in a battle for second place the next day. A berth at the State 2A tournament the following weekend was on the line.
CHS had fallen to Glennallen in the game for first place earlier that day, and their hopes for playing for the second slot at state were dashed by a disease that gave March Madness a new meaning.
For Cordova seniors Christian Adams, Kaiden Graves, Keegan Estes and Kaleb Carillo, all starters on a fine squad that went 20-5 on the season, it was the end of a dream to play for a state title under the bright lights of glittering Alaska Airlines Arena.
Yet it was this same foursome that inspired their team to a first place finish of a different sort, for arriving at the deserted office at Cordova High in the last week of April was a box that contained the ASAA/First National Bank Academic Award, which was to be presented at the championship ceremonies following the state tournament.
The award goes to the team that had the “highest combined grade point average,” and much credit goes to this senior foursome, said coach Bert Adams.
“They did a great job as role models and really challenged the team with academics, with the goal to win this award,” he said.
So, the Cordova boys won a 2A state tournament award in which not a single game was played.
Their perseverance and dedication to academics throughout a long season that involved several brutal road trips paid off with an education that will serve them well in the future.
This is an award that should be displayed prominently in the CHS trophy case, with a small note alongside explaining the circumstances under which it was won.
And we should all congratulate the Wolverines and their coach for a fine season that ended prematurely, but also on a significant winning note.
