Faith Academy girls basketball goes 2-2 at tournament
Faith Academy of Marble Falls junior guard Taylor Denton (left) takes contact as she drives to the basket. Denton was named to the Texas School for the Deaf all-tournament team.
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
AUSTIN — The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls basketball team finished the Texas School for the Deaf tournament with a 2-2 record Jan. 3-4.
Lady Flames head coach Jerry English said his players did what he wanted them to do: play some tough opponents and work themselves back into shape.
“I think what we saw is a real variation on offense and defense,” English said. “We got to see a lot of stuff in a short period of time. My overview was we played hard all four games. We did not play extremely well. I felt like we missed so many of the three- and two-foot shots that separate good teams.”
The Lady Flames (13-4) defeated Colleyville Covenant Christian, 57-26, and the Texas School for the Deaf, 53-13, but lost to Lake Dallas God’s Academy, 37-34, and Lubbock Christian, the defending Class 3A state champion of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, 51-44.
God’s Academy took a 22-18 halftime lead that went to 32-21 by the end of the third quarter. The Ambassadors made eight 3-pointers in the game.
“They did get us to rush our shot,” English said. “When we got offensive rebounds, they had three girls swatting to block the shot.”
The loss to Lubbock Christian came down to facing an opponent that simply valued possessions. Lubbock Christian had a total of five turnovers.
“It was truly beautiful to watch,” English said. “They handled the ball great.”
Foul trouble set in, which allowed Lubbock Christian to go on a 7-0 run in 70 seconds that led to the win.
The Eagles went to a stall offense with about three minutes left. To Lubbock Christian’s credit, English said, players made free throws when the Lady Flames had to start fouling to save time.
“I don’t think you can ask for a whole lot more,” English said. “We were concerned about our depth the whole season. We don’t have enough depth to bring in help. I can’t fault our effort at all. This tournament showed some of our flaws. I think that’s very important.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com
ALL-TOURNAMENT PLAYERS: Taylor Denton and Juliette Fisher
ON OFFENSE: (tournament averages) points – Hannah Cozby 8, Denton 18, Joanna Piatek 5, Sierra Brinkley 3, Kristen Cherry 3, Fisher 7, Alisha Williams ½, Sarah Burrage ¾; assists – Denton 3, Piatek 2, Brinkley ¾, Cherry 1¼, Fisher 2, Case ¼, Laura Benac ¼; rebounds – Cozby 1¼, Denton 1, Piatek 2, Brinkley 1¼, Fisher 2, Case ¼, Cherry ¼
ON DEFENSE: (tournament averages) steals – Williams ½, Cozby ¾, Denton 1½, Piatek 1, Cherry 1½, Fisher 1½, Burrage ½, Case ¼, Brinkley ¾; rebounds – Williams ¾, Cozby 3, Denton 4, Piatek 3, Brinkley 2, Cherry 1, Fisher 4, Benac ½, Burrage ¾; blocks – Cozby 2, Fisher ¾, Williams ¼, Piatek ¼
RECORDS: Faith is 13-4 overall.
UP NEXT: 6:15 p.m. Jan. 7, Faith at Kerrville Our Lady of the Hills, 875 Peterson Farm Road in Kerrville; 6 p.m. Jan. 10, Faith vs. Temple Holy Trinity at The Fire Pit, three miles east of Marble Falls off RR 1431