Most Division IV teams don’t have the depth that Concord Christian Academy does, and it paid off on Monday night.

The No. 2 Kingsmen were in foul trouble early and led by just four points at halftime, but sophomore center Jack Owens stepped up off the bench and played especially well in the second half, helping CCA extend its undefeated streak to 19 games with a 68-57 win over No. 15 Pittsburg-Canaan (8-11) in the D-IV preliminary round.

Concord Christian led 21-10 after the first quarter thanks to five 3-pointers, but senior big man Isaac Kirby was forced to sit out most of the first half due to foul trouble and the Yellow Jackets, led by Daemon Jaimes (26 points, 16 of them in the first half), cut the Kingsmen’s lead to 35-31 at halftime.

The Kingsmen extended their lead to 46-38 in a low-scoring third quarter, but Owens stepped up again in the fourth quarter, scoring five of his seven points over the final eight minutes. 

Sophomore Luke Farland scored eight of his team-high 16 points in the fourth quarter and senior guard Logan Duffy scored seven of his 13 in the final frame to help CCA punch its ticket to Thursday night’s quarterfinal round.

The Kingsmen will host No. 7 Groveton (12-7), who came from behind to defeat No. 10 Epping, 82-80, in overtime on Monday night. Tip off is currently scheduled for 7 p.m.

Seniors TJ Charbono (14 points), Jaden Young (eight points) and Kirby (eight points) helped lead a balanced Concord Christian attack.

“Our depth paid off for us tonight and I’m super proud of those guys for staying ready and executing when we needed them,” Concord Christian head coach Greg Farland said.

Joey Cristoforo (15 points) and Austin Owen (12 points) also reached double figures for Pittsburg-Canaan.

No. 4 Newmarket 52, No. 13 Franklin 23

The Golden Tornadoes traveled to Newmarket (15-4) with just seven players and trailed by just four points at halftime, but the Mules played suffocating defense and scored 33 points in the second half for a convincing win in Monday night’s preliminary round.

Junior Cody Williams scored a team-high 13 points for Franklin (9-10), helping the Tornadoes trail just 19-15 at halftime. Senior Matt Nason was the next highest Franklin scorer with four points.

Jaron Labranche (20 points) and Nick Minutelli (17 points) led the Mules.

Despite the early exit, it was Franklin’s third consecutive season qualifying for the playoffs and is a program still showing signs of progress after a seven-year playoff drought from 2016-2023.