LAPORTE–As his seniors exited their home court for the final time, coach Glenn Vaughan raised his arms. The fans who jammed every inch of the bleachers 30 minutes before tip-off knew his wish and enthusiastically granted it.

Forget what the scoreboard said Friday night. That thunderous standing ovation the crowd delivered revealed just how much this season meant and the impact this team made on the community. As the years go by, plays the Griffins made may fade, but the memory of that reaction will not.

District 3’s La Academia Charter played a near flawless game and defeated Sullivan, 69-26 in Friday’s Class A state tournament opener. But that could not dull the spirit of this town who passionately cheered the entire game as their favorite players left their collective heart on the floor one last time.

“I wasn’t really expecting to get to play at home again, but the stands were packed and that was awesome,” guard Ben Carpenter said after scoring 10 points and grabbing six rebounds. “I love playing here, and it makes the community come together.”

Sullivan (17-9) took that community on one tremendous ride. A team which won just eight games last year and which started this one, 8-7, excelled as the season continued and captured the second district title in program history. The Griffins also won nine of their previous 10 games entering states, defeating top-seeded Northumberland Christian for the program’s first district title since 2012.

Still, it was more than winning which endeared this team to its fans. It was the way the Griffins played. And in defeat Friday, they displayed it one last time. Sullivan never stopped competing hard or playing together. The Griffins simply ran into a buzz saw but their effort again elicited only well-earned cheers.

“All I keep hearing from my former players, and we had a bunch here tonight, is about how hard we play and how much guts we play with. It’s something that earns respect,” Sullivan coach Glenn Vaughan said. “The thing I just said to them is, ‘In case you’re doubting if you’re making an impact on everybody, you are. You’re losing 37-11 at halftime and I don’t think one person left this gym.’ They stayed here and they supported these guys because this team earned respect. They play hard and it was a blast. It was a good journey.”

La Academia (13-11) continues its journey into the second round where it will play District 5 champion Berlin Brothersvalley in Tuesday’s second round. The Leones, a state semifinalist two years ago, finished fourth in a loaded District 3 but look like a future and potentially present powerhouse. La Academia is fast, tall, can shoot and is well-coached.

Now that this young team which starts just one senior and has three freshmen among its six-player rotation, is gaining experience, things are really coming together. The Leones scored the game’s first eight points, took an 18-8 lead into the second quarter, pushed it to 26 by halftime and imposed the mercy rule in the third quarter.

“This is new for a lot of these guys, being on this stage. What you see now is a lot of the decision making that we didn’t have five games ago,” La Academia coach Jerry Johnson Sr. said. “I think we’re growing up now a little bit more and maturing.”

That was evident against Sullivan as La Academia quickly showed that the huge crowd could not faze it. Johnson’s son Jerry Jr., a 6-foot-3 match-up nightmare, scored a game-high 25 points and buried five 3-pointers, including two which seemed like they were shot from Hughesville.

Alex Ermakov, a 6-3 junior, had a hand in the game’s first 11 points and was one of four players in double figures. Elijah Perez, a 6-6 freshman, was a force inside, scoring 12 points and grabbing 12 of his 14 rebounds in the first half. Jonathan Orr added 12 points.

La Academia lost some heartbreakers this season, including a 51-50 district semifinal against Greenwood, but is growing up fast. It also is understanding the game more as the experience grows.

“It’s a good experience for now and later. There’s no tomorrow now. If you lose, you’re done,” Johnson Sr. said. “I always tell the guys being able to be athletic and have skills is great, but as long as you develop the mental game, you’ll always have a chance to win.”

Sullivan also did that well all year and Friday’s result was more about La Academia playing a fabulous game than the Griffins playing bad. Sullivan did lose six first-quarter turnovers but took better care of the ball after that. The Griffins simply had no answer for a bigger and faster team which also masterfully shared the basketball and made 61 percent of its shots.

“I thought this game was gettable. I thought if we played well, we could win this game,” Vaughan said. “We had to limit turnovers and take care of the ball and we didn’t do that, but that team in person is definitely better than however many game films I watched. I was impressed.”

Sullivan was down but never stopped fighting. Even after the mercy rule went into effect, the Griffins still had their fans rocking when Riley King made a steal and layup. A Carpenter drive and Trey Higley steal, and layup had pulled Sullivan within 41-17, but La Academia answered with a 9-0 run.

King (8 points, 4 rebounds) and Higley were part of an excellent senior class which helped Sullivan more than double last season’s win total. What that group did could positively reverberate for years to come as well.

“I’m going to miss my teammates. It’s not so much about what we did right now,” Carpenter said. “Yes, it’s awesome, but I’m just going to miss my teammates. Playing with them definitely made me a better all-around player.”

“The bottom line is this: I feel like this group of seniors knew, because they saw it their freshman year, knew that great things can happen when we’re great teammates; when we play hard for each other and they did that,” Vaughan said. “I talked about making an impact on the community and said you made an impact on the younger kids in our school and the future of our program is being impacted by this year because of the excitement you provided.”

Vaughan’s father Norman passed away earlier this week and was honored before the game. Norman helped make his son a better coach and his team better players and people, coaching basketball and cross country for nearly two decades.

And although Sullivan did not win its final game this season, its season-long performance offered a powerful tribute to a community pillar. Somewhere Friday, it felt like Norman was smiling his approval at everything this team represented.

“I think what starts it is the team embraces the culture a little bit more,” Vaughan said. “They see the team plays hard, they play for each other, they’re unselfish and then people start to come and say, ‘That’s a fun team to watch; we respect the way they play. We need to go watch them.’ And then you end up with 500 people packed in like sardines in this place.

“I’m happy they got to experience that.”

LA ACADEMIA (69)

Alex Ermanov 4 1-2 10, Jerry Johnson 8 0-0 23, Elijah Perez 5 2-3 12, Jonathan Orr 6 0-0 12, Jesse Bonilla 3 0-2 6, Savohn McQueeney 2 0-0 6. Totals 28 3-6 69.

SULLIVAN (26)

Riley King 3 1-2 8, Ben Carpenter 4 0-0 10, Trey Higley 1 0-2 2, Maddox Bahr 1 0-0 3, Landon Baldwin 0 0-1 0, Derrick Finnegan 1 0-0 2, Conner Smithkors 0 1-2 1, Tucker Blasi 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 2-7 26.

La Academia 18 19 16 16–69

Sullivan 8 3 12 3–26

3-pointers: La Academia 8 (Johnson 5, McQueeney 2, Emakov); Sullivan 4 (Carpenter 2, King, Bahr).

Records: La Academia 13-11. Sullivan 17-9.