California high school basketball: Cornerstone Christian downs Birmingham, 74-64, in CIF Division III final

SACRAMENTO – The CIF Division III boys final featured two teams that had never been to championship stage.

After two Division VI championships, where brackets end at the regional round, Cornerstone Christian (Antioch) defeated Birmingham (Lake Balboa), 74-64, to claim its first state championship at the D-III level Friday afternoon at Golden 1 Center.

The Cougars rebounded from a 2024-25 season that ended abruptly in the opening round of the North Coast Section playoffs. Cornerstone was seeded fourth and was upset by No. 13 Mt. Eden (Hayward), halting their hopes at a Northern California repeat. This season, Cornerstone won the 2025 North Coast Section crown and went through No. 14 Saint Francis (Mountain View), No. 6 Palma (Salinas), No. 2 Willow Glen (San Jose) and No. 4 Priory (Portola Valley), the defending D-IV state champ, to reach the championship game.

"From the beginning of the year, I've said one thing over and over," said Cornerstone head coach Michael Thomasson. "We had three goals. We're gonna win league. We're gonna win NCS. Wherever they place this in the state, we're gonna win the state championship. I know it was many months ago. I know it was hard to believe back then, but they made my words come true."

Amari Woodard hit a pair of threes in the first quarter to lead Cornerstone to a slim two-point lead. Birmingham's X'zavion McKay matched Woodard's six points in the first to leave the score at 16-14 Cougars after one.

Cornerstone used an 11-2 run over the first four minutes of the second quarter, sparked by buckets from Benjamin Lukacs. James Perry pulled up for an elbow jumper at the buzzer to pad the Cougars lead to 35-23 by halftime.

The Cougars' lead ballooned to 16 points midway through the third on a triple from Lukacs and grew to as much as 21 after a transition dunk from Perry. Cornerstone led 53-36 heading into the fourth.

Birmingham cut the deficit to as close as seven points in the final period, but Cornerstone had an answer for every Patriot charge and held on for a 74-64 victory.

Lukacs led Cornerstone (29-8) with 26 points on 11-of-14 shooting with six boards and eight assists. Perry had 16 with eight rebounds and six blocks while Woodard had 12 points on four triples. 

Birmingham (22-8) qualified for the regional bracket despite losing in the opening round of the Los Angeles City Section Open tournament. The Patriots beat No. 14 Serra (Gardena), No. 6 Trabuco Hills (Mission Viejo), No. 7 Poway and No. 5 Colony (Ontario) to reach the championship game for the first time in program history.

The Patriots were led by Tekeio Phillips with 17 points while McKay added 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists.