Jaden Brown’s stomach was in knots all week.

Chippewa Valley’s go-to scorer and offensive leader was questionable — if not doubtful — for Friday night’s district championship game against the Ford Falcons with a flu, turning his stomach inside out even leading up to tip-off.

But when the junior stepped to the free throw line with his Big Reds down 52-51 with 2.3 seconds left in front of a relentless crowd, everything from his brain to his hands and, yes, his stomach, was clear.

“Man, it was crazy,” Brown said. “But, you know, with the last three throws, just reps on reps on reps, you don’t really worry about none of the crowd. Just kind of playing and just kind of all the reps that you put in during practice.”

Brown calmly sank the first to tie the game for the first time since it was 0-0, then he made the second to give Chippewa Valley their first, only and last lead of the game, 53-52. And with a stop on the final play, the Big Reds clinched their second-straight district championship win, beating the Falcons in their own house.

“It’s been bad the last couple days,” Brown said. “My stomach, I got a stomach flu, but I had to come in. Like I said, man, this couldn’t be the last game.

“I’ve been saying ‘flu game.’”

Chippewa Valley head coach Corey Smith admitted that he didn’t think Brown was going to play on Friday night, and even though he did, he didn’t have one of his better games.

Still, when the Big Reds needed a bucket, there was only ever one guy the ball was going to go to.

“That kid is an ultimate winner,” Smith said. “When, you know, we got to the end there, there was only one person we were drawing that play up for in that time out. You know, to our credit, we had a lot of guys who wanted that play, but like, in my mind, it was only going to him.

“He really gutted it out. All the credit in the world to him, man.”

Ford II scored the first nine points of the game and kept the lead until Brown’s first free throw despite a spirited effort the entire way from Chippewa Valley who, at multiple points, got within one and two points of tying or leading but couldn’t make the move.

Every time the Big Reds went on a run, the Falcons had a counter.

“The whole time with the way that they play and they get after it, the up and down, we knew it was going to come down to something like that,” said Ford head coach Jeremy Denha.

“We were prepped and kind of ready to go with it all and it comes down to that last play. And it’s one play, but there’s a lot of them that add up. So that play didn’t win or lose it. But the game was a pick-em, man.”

Ford stayed ahead for so long on the back of major gutsy plays from across its lineup — steals and scores by AJ Johnson, blocked shots by Eli Miller, 3-pointers by Eli Harris and Aiden Gillech, among other things, kept the Falcons in position to win.

They struggled from the line at times down the stretch, though, shooting 12-for-18 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. That included back-to-back misses by Aiden Gillich within the final 10 seconds to keep the Big Reds within one.

Brown scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter, going 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the process, to lead the team with 14 points. Josh Johnson had 12 and Cass Sanders scored nine.

CVHS’s 53 points are their third-fewest in a win this year, something Smith said had a lot to do with Ford.

“We did play poorly, but a lot of that goes to them (Ford II),” Smith said. “I got to tip my hat to them. They played hard. And I tried to express to our guys, like, how hard they played. I think we have a slight talent advantage, but, I mean, it’s unfortunate for them. They deserved to win, and they played a hell of a game. That’s a really good and well coached team.”

Despite the loss, Denha beamed with pride for his team.

“I’m just so proud of them,” he said. “They left everything out there. We talk about controlled variables all the time, right? Only thing we can control is our effort, our energy and our intensity. And we kept that the entire 32 minutes tonight. There was no lull in that, ever.”

Ford graduates a group of seniors who, as freshmen, endured a 17-game losing streak. As juniors, they turned it around to finish .500 and now, as seniors, they finish 17-7 and one point shy of a district championship.

“I told these guys after the game, like, that sucks, you know, that’s a failure, and that’s a hiccup in life,” Denha said. “But we’re going to be full of those. This group is going to respond.

“(Johnson, Collin Carandang, Carson Sturm, Eli Miller and Danny Eid) are going to be some special, special boys. That’s going to be five special seniors that do great things as adults. They’re going to be better adults than I am.”

Johnson led all scorers with 16 points. Gillich had 11 and Eli Miller added nine.

Chippewa Valley made good on the “let’s practice tomorrow” message that has been on their whiteboard since the start of the postseason with their next one being preparation for L’Anse Creuse North. The Crusaders defeated Port Huron Northern — who beat CV twice this season — in their district championship.