Faith Academy boys basketball beats Jourdanton for first road win

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys basketball team defeated Jourdanton 51-24 Nov. 29 to move to 2-1 on the season, the Flames’ first game back from the Thanksgiving holiday.

“We’ve been trying to schedule that game for a few years,” Faith head coach Zakk Revelle said. “A few years ago before (the Covid-19 pandemic), they had a good team and wanted to play us.”

The Flames entered the contest with only eight players on the bench. Three were out with illness, Revelle said, including freshman center Judah Phillips. That forced the coach to install some different plays and schemes to offset Jourdanton’s intangibles. Sophomore Asher Appel, a newcomer to the team, started.

“Jourdanton was big and physical,” Revelle said. “We knew they’d be athletic, big and strong. We tried some new stuff defensively we haven’t done. And we played the best defense with this group this year. We communicated really well and were sound. I was really pleased.”

The first quarter ended in a 6-6 tie. But the Flames exploded for 15 points in the second period and gave up only four points for a 21-10 half-time advantage. Faith didn’t miss a beat in the next stanza, scoring 21 to Jourdanton’s 9 for a 42-19 lead headed into the final quarter.

“We were playing really good defense,” Revelle said, adding the commitment on that end made the offense easier.

Senior forward Will Lewis led the Flames with 15 points and senior center Brock Davis had around 12 points.

“They double-teamed Brock a lot,” Revelle said. “Asher played well. (Junior) Gabe Lopez played well and shot the ball really well. And (senior) Elijah Blackington, who played for us a couple of years ago, is bigger, stronger and faster. He was a huge part of our success.”

The Flames head to the Grand Saline tournament this weekend.

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