Sometimes you’re just outmatched.

Morgan Academy put up a good fight Tuesday night during the championship match of the Morgan Academy Tournament, but Russell Christian was just too talented. Tournament MVP Xavier Heidelberg scored 40 points in three quarters to lead Russell Christian past Morgan 82-52.

His teammates, Melvin Blakely and Jeremiah Hall, also filled up the statsheet. Blakely scored 12 points and Hall was all over the boards and chipped in 4 points.

“We’re not going to see three players like [Heidelberg], [Blakely], and [Hall] very often, and I’m going to make sure they understand that,” said Morgan Academy coach Lee Tate.

“My guys did not quit. It was just futile. It was just futile.”

The Senators trailed 28-10 after the first quarter and 58-25 at the half. By that point, Heidelberg had already done most of his damage, He scored in spurts, including a 5-point run toward the end of the second quarter. With 1:56 left in the half, he made a put back layup and then followed with a 3-pointer to put Russell up 58-25.

“Heidenberg is special. He just has such a soft touch. He’s fun to watch,” Tate said. “He’s everywhere and you don’t know he’s everywhere. He’s just an invisible player.”

Although the Senators didn’t win Tuesday, Tate said there was a lot Morgan could build off of.

Sawyer Hopkins scored 11 points and Britton Adams had another 9 points for the Senators.

Dione Allen gave Morgan some life in the second quarter, coming off the bench to chip in 6 points. Mason Perkins also had 6 points for Morgan.

“We played well in a lot of ways,” Late said.

“In the first half, we just turned the ball over way too much. There’s just no way to recover from that.”