Faith boys advance to regional finals
Faith Academy of Marble Falls guard Tyler Kwan drives for two of his 13 points during the Flames' 69-58 playoff win against Shiner St. Paul on March 2. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys basketball team defeated Shiner St. Paul 69-58 on March 2 to advance to the Class 2A regional finals of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
UPDATE: Next up for the Flames (9-3 overall, 5-0 District 4-2) is Galveston O’Connell College Prep in a Saturday, March 6, matchup at 5 p.m. at Brenham High School, 525 A.H. Ehrig Drive in Brenham.
Faith Academy is currently the No. 1-ranked team in the Class 2A private schools poll by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches Association.
Against Shiner St. Paul, the Flames throughout the game, though each time Faith looked to put it away, the Cardinals fought back to stay within striking distance.
“We haven’t had a lot of games like that this year,” said Flames head coach Zakk Revelle. “That was fun. Ton of credit to (Cardinal) coach (Lance) Giese and his staff and son Kai. Those guys play 11-man football. They win state in football and baseball. Our goal was not to allow them to win state in basketball.”
St. Paul changed its defense heading into the game from zone to man-to-man, which surprised the Flames. Still, senior forward Carter Slyker made them pay by knocking down five 3-pointers to pace the Flames with 21 points. Senior guard Tyler Kwan added 13 points, senior guard Case Coleman followed with 12 points, and senior forward Grayson Poage contributed 10 points.
Faith led 21-18 after the first period, 34-30 at the half, and 48-41 after three quarters. Revelle commended his entire squad for its never-give-up attitude in withstanding St. Paul’s attempted comeback.
“Energy and effort — we preach it every single day,” he said. “You can have effort without energy, but you can’t have energy and not effort. The five we had on the floor kept playing hard. We had three guys who never went on the court, but they never stopped talking and building their teammates’ confidence. In past years, we were quick to keep letting (the opponent) punch us. Now, we’re swinging first, we’re weathering the storm and keep punching.”