Faith ends regular basketball season with wins, preps for playoffs
Faith Academy of Marble Falls freshman post Hadley Shipley ties up a loose ball during the Lady Flames’ 38-26 district win against Bryan Allen Academy on Feb. 15. Photo by Mark Stracke
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys’ and girls’ basketball teams each ended their regular seasons with district wins against Bryan Allen Academy on Tuesday, Feb. 15.
The Flames (12-3 overall, 6-0 district), who already were the District 4-2A champions, won 58-45, and the Lady Flames (9-10, 3-3) won 38-26 to finish third.
Now, both teams prepare for their first-round Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools playoff games, which tip off at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18.
The Flames host Shiner St. Paul at The Fire Pit, 3151 RR 1431 East in Marble Falls, while the Lady Flames travel to Halletsville Sacred Heart Catholic, 400 E. Fifth St. in Halletsville.
LADY FLAMES VS. ALLEN ACADEMY
The Lady Flames went up 11-0 to begin the game and kept the lead throughout the contest, though the Lady Rams narrowed it to two points in the third quarter.
The intensity picked up, however, in the final minutes of the contest. Faith led 33-19 with 5 minutes 34 seconds left. Then, Allen cut the lead with a 3-pointer.
Faith sophomore post Morgan Weems hit a free throw to give Faith a 34-22 advantage with 3:29 remaining. The Lady Rams added a free throw to trim the deficit to 36-23 with 14 seconds left. Faith took a timeout with 10 seconds left and set up a play that called for sophomore forward Claire Poage to pass to Weems on the low block.
Weems caught the ball and used a drop step to power her way to the basket. But the Lady Rams inbounded the ball with seven seconds left and dribbled down to hit another 3-pointer.
Though the Lady Flames earned the win, Allen got second place in district because of the point differential. Faith had to win by at least 15 points to grab the district’s No. 2 spot.
“That was a big bucket by Morgan. Everybody did everything they were supposed to do,” said Lady Flames head coach Kat Canada after the game.
The basket would have given the Lady Flames the 15-point win they needed, but they were denied by the Lady Rams’ last-second score.
Canada shouldered the blame for the bucket.
“I forgot to tell them to pick up (the Lady Rams’ top shooter), know your personnel,” the coach said. “(My team) is young. I take the blame for that.”
Morgan led the Lady Flames with 16 points followed by sophomore guard Elleson Lehmburg with nine, sophomore guard Ella Cozby with five, and Poage with two.
Canada noted the positives, including her team playing four complete quarters, maintaining focus when Allen made runs, and having the confidence that they could win.
“I’m so proud of them,” she said. “This game shows them what I’ve been trying to get them to do all year: Trust us, trust each other, and play the game — the whole game — and they did. We’ve had bumps in the road, but the confidence was there today.”
FLAMES VS. ALLEN ACADEMY
The Flames took a business-like approach in their contest, racing to a 15-10 lead at the end of the first quarter, which went to 27-22 at the half and 41-32 after three periods.
Head coach Zakk Revelle believes this contest will help Faith as the playoffs begin.
“We were looking to stay in rhythm, and we didn’t necessarily do that the whole game,” he said.
He added that his players made some mental mistakes during the game, such as throwing the ball away and not valuing every possession.
“It’s good to get those things out in a game that doesn’t matter,” Revelle said. “We took some of the rust off.”
Junior post Brock Davis led the Flames with 28 points followed by senior guard Case Coleman with 12, senior guard Dylan Offut with six, and junior guard Diego Chavira and junior power forward Will Lewis with five each.