Jordan has been trying to break through its last district hurdle for two years.

The Warriors have achieved almost everything a young program could hope for since they joined the ranks of District 19-6A, they have made deep playoff runs, played in regional tournaments and played in important games, beating very good teams in the process.

But there was one thing eluding them over the past two years and one thorn in their side when it came to district play, one thing they couldn’t accomplish and that was keeping them from achieving one of their biggest goals.

For all their achievements, the Warriors (15-1, 3-0) had yet to beat Seven Lakes, entering a matchup with the Spartans on Friday with an 0-4 record all-time against Seven Lakes (14-4, 2-1), but they were able to change that in the two’s first game of the season, beating the Spartans 57-54 and staying perfect in district play after a big time performance.

“This win means a lot, I’m not going to act like it’s just another game,” said senior point guard Jaden Holt. “It means a lot to our program, to our city and the school. We had so much support behind us and we knew that we could come out here and do it. We just kept faith in the process and came out with the win.”

The Warriors did that despite trailing for most of the game. The Spartans entered the final frame trailing by six and didn’t take their first lead of the second half until three minutes remaining in the matchup. Once they did, the Warrior didn’t let it go, making key free throws down the stretch while shutting down the Spartans offense to claim the win.

“We kept talking throughout the game and I just kept reminding them that the great teams are the ones that, when things go bad, they keep playing and they make those adjustments.” Said head coach Charlie Jones. “The guys today kept fighting, they never gave Seven Lakes anything and I trust them. I think that made the difference in that last quarter.”

Like it’s been for Seven Lakes in many of their games over the past three years, Holt and Elijah Black led the way to Jordan’s win, as both scored 15 points and made key plays on the defensive end, but just as importantly, the Warriors big men stepped up, limiting Isaiah Santos to just 15 points and only three points in the fourth quarter, while dominating the boards and making key plays both offensively and defensively.

Seven Lakes jumped out to a 17-13 lead in the first quarter and led 29-23 at half. The Spartans still led 46-40 after the third quarter and it wasn’t until midway through the fourth that Jordan made its push to take the lead.

“I knew that they had it when during a timeout in the fourth Jaden just looked at the team and said “we’ve been here, we know how to do this,” Jones said. “That showed me that they already had the confidence. We’ve bene in all of these situations, tight games, overtimes, they just keep playing the same way the whole time and I’m proud of them for that.”

The win keeps Jordan undefeated in district play and puts them in prime position to challenge for their first ever district title. But the team knows it cant get ahead of itself. Jordan is focused on the day to day and the game that is in front of them. While there are bigger goals down the road, they know that if they don’t take care of the here and now, they won’t have a chance to accomplish those bigger goals.

“We’ve done everything we need to prepare ourselves and now it’s time to take that next step” Black said. “We wanted this so badly but we want to do more than just win one game. We have to focus on the next up and make sure we are ready for every single game and if we do that I think it we have what it takes to achieve all of our bigger goals later on.”

District 19-6A

Jordan 57, Seven Lakes 54

Points: (J) Jaden Holt 15, Elijah Black 15, Keegan Morehead 9, Rayan Fadika 4, Jude Oluokun 4, Jacob Oluokun 3, Jalen Black 2; (SL) Isaiah Santos 15, Ayden Clarke 9, Amenel Tadesse 8, Tillman Jaramillo 7, Alex Teahen 6, Sean Mwesigwa 5, Dean Spencer 4;

Halftime: Seven Lakes 36-30; 3-Pointers: (J) Morehead, Elijah Black, Holt; (SL) Santos 2, Tadesse 2, Teahen 2, Clarke, Mwesigwa, Jaramillo; Records: Jordan: 15-1, 3-0; Seven lakes, 14-4, 2-1;