Lady Flames push streak to three

CHEROKEE — The Faith Academy girls basketball team added another victory to its winning streak.

This time the Lady Flames defeated Cherokee, 57-35, Tuesday. Faith is now 10-3 overall.

Head coach Jerry English said his squad played with good energy and took control of the contest early thanks to its defense.

However, he was concerned they missed too many easy shots.

Cherokee was able to get some second-chance points because Faith did not block out and rebound, English said.

Both squads scored 16 points in the second quarter though Faith led, 28-21, at the half.

“After the half, we were able to take total control in the middle of the third by getting a number of steals and Brooke Field making three putbacks off missed shots,” he said. “We stagnated a lot after the first quarter. We allowed a lot of open shots and second shots. You get beat doing that.”

He was pleased with the way the players seized control of the contest in the second half by allowing only 14 points in 16 minutes.

In turn, Faith scored 15 in the third and 14 in the fourth.

This marked the second game in a 24-hour period, which may have explained the result of the second quarter, the coach said.

One of the issues facing Faith is a lack of practices, so English is seeing small things creep in such as players’ lack of court rapport or not working through the offensive sets. 

“I’ve never liked playing multiple games without practices,” he said. “We’re making one pass and not making real good decisions.”

During practice, English could stop the players and show them what needs to be adjusted, but that is not possible during a game. 

Kendra Field led Faith with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Younger sister Brooke Field scored 13 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.

Shiloh Reaves had five points and four rebounds, while Deanna Hoover scored four points and pulled down five rebounds. Laura Lykken scored three points, while Tori Diamond, Katie Jung, Taylor Vaughn and Breigh Gray each added two points.

Vaughn had three rebounds, while Jung had two.

“We did not get any injuries, and we are doing some things I like,” English said. “We’re not doing them often enough. A lot of people say you play up or you play down to your competition. Reasonably good teams seem to manipulate energy level and intensity level.”

The coach said he was happy to be 10-3.

“If you told me we were getting ready to go into our third tournament at 10-3, I’d think there’s no possible way,” he said. “We’ll be a lot better when we get to practice a while.”

The Lady Flames will be at the Johnson City Tournament today for a 3 p.m. matchup against Rocksprings, a University Interscholastic League Class 1A team near Junction.

“We’re really looking forward to it,” English said. “I love playing new people. It’s always fun to make adjustments after you see what they do. I think this is going to be fun. I’m excited about where we are in relation to our schedule.”

Courtesy photo