Champions All: The Cheswick Christian Academy Chargers

The Cheswick Christian Academy Chargers won the Southwest Christian Athletic Conference Championship in '02 and '03, then faced Beaver County Christian, their perpetual nemesis, the next two years and lost. But this year might be different. Played at Penn State New Kensington, Beaver County took an early seven-point lead. The Chargers took some time to get geared up, but soon the game went back and forth, with a lot of defense. With seconds left on the clock, Cheswick held a 36-33 lead. Beaver County threw up a three-pointer that could have won, but the Chargers' Charlie Robinson blocked the shot, and… Chargers win the Championship!! “Now, we are back in action," says Coach Todd Rosio. Now Cheswick takes a 3-2 lead in the Championship Series that seems to fall to the two schools.

And now, for the really amazing parts: Charlie just broke the 1000 career pt. mark at the end of the season; Steve Holeczy, another starter, broke his 1000 pt record in January, and he is only a junior. He could very well break 1500 pts. by this time next year. But he will need a hand; the rest of the starting five, which include Justin Brandenstein, Matt Seefeld and Jake Holeczy, are all seniors. Refilling those shoes is going to be tough, but Rosio has seen it before.

And still they won the championship again this year. “We have more athletes than a school our size should have,” says Rosio, who is also the principal. Cheswick only has 20 boys in the school, almost a 2-1 girl-to-boy ratio. He continues, "We don’t recruit kids. We just have good kids and work hard. They've done a good job." How did they win? Rosio says, "Those guys play ball every chance they get! They worked hard and really wanted to have a good year. They practiced hard and played hard."

Not just on the court, apparently. Charlie and Matt will be the valedictorian of the senior class! The story of the Chargers is a real-life story of the heart of a champion.