Charlie Jones has told his team all season that they could compete with anyone.

The Jordan head coach saw the vision of what this team could be from the start and built his players belief all year. It didn’t matter if the Warriors were in their first ever Class 6A season, that it was only the Warriors second ever varsity season or that they were younger than many of their competitors, Jones saw the talent and his players bought in.

The Warriors have made huge steps along the way and accomplished what they set out to do, finishing second in district and earning the programs first playoff win.

But nothing was as big of an accomplishment as what the Warriors did Tuesday, as Jordan beat Cy-Creek 82-61 in the Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals, as Jordan clinched a spot in the regional tournament for the first time as a program.

“All year I’ve been telling these guys, ‘you are good enough to make it to the regional tournament if you believe in it,’” Jones said. “We had a lull in the second half of our district schedule and we have some young kids, but these guys just weathered the storm. They didn’t like it when people counted them out or doubted them and they responded. They’re just a great group of kids, I love them and I’m so happy they get to experience this.”

Jordan shot the lights out of the gym from the start of the game and never slowed down, the Warriors made seven six three pointers in the first half and finished with 10 threes in the game. Misaias Herrera came out of the gate by hitting two early threes and Jordan built an early lead, but Cy-Creek had its offense rolling early as well and ended the first quarter up one.

But Jordan was relentless and kept coming at the Cougars both offensively and defensively, getting the lead back and building up a 40-31 lead at halftime.

“We work on shooting so much in practice and it just translates with everything we do,” said senior forward Trevor Martz. “When we’re making shots like we were today it boosts us in every way. Our bench gets involved, our guards are able to attack off the dribble and everyone on the court just gets an energy boost. We we’re feeling it out there and it was fun.”

Jordan continued to pull away in the third quarter, building the lead to 59-46 and the Warriors saw things out in the fourth to earn their first trip to the regional tournament.

“We just wanted to get a win and finish out strong,” said sophomore guard Jaden Holt. “I told myself that I had to keep going, we had to keep playing well and we knew that there was no way we were going to let go of that lead. The biggest thing was we locked in on defense, that’s what got us the win.”

Holt finished the night with 25 points while Herrera had 20, including six three pointers and Martz had 17 points.

The Warriors will face their biggest challenge yet when they get to the regional tournament, as they will meet back-to-back state champion Beaumont United on Friday, at 7 p.m. at the Campbell Center in Aldine.

But the Warriors are used to a challenge, and they aren’t about to stop believing in themselves at this point.

“We have to treat it like any other game,” Jones said. “They’re one of the top teams in the state and everyone will pick them to win, but we believe. We believe that we can play with anybody, on any day you can be beat, and on any day, you can beat somebody. We’re going to prepare and be ready for the next challenge.”

Class 6A Regional Quarterfinals

Jordan 82, Cy-Creek 61

Points: (J) Jaden Holt 25, Masaias Herrera 20, Trevor Martz 17, Elijah Black 10, Jude Oluokun 8, Tyler France 2; (CY) Corey Hadnot 24, Taurus Baugh 12, Noah Martin 11, Miles Williams 5, Jayphon Duncan 4, Andrez Lara 4;

Halftime: Jordan 40-31; 3-Pointers: Herrera 6, Martz 2, Holt 2; (CY) Hadnot 2, Duncan, Martin; Records: Jordan 28-8; Cy-Creek 29-8;