Faith Academy girls basketball beats Round Rock Christian for first district win

CAPTION: Elleson Lehmberg and the Lady Flames play tough defense to build a big lead in the district-opening win against Round Rock Christian Jan. 3. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls basketball team defeated Round Rock Christian Academy 60-46 Jan. 3 in the District 3-3A opener of Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.

“We executed very well,” head coach Kat Canada said. “It was everything we talked about: we took care of the ball, we looked for who was open, we didn’t overthink. We worked hard on offense, and I didn’t feel like they were impatient. It was definitely huge (to win the opener). We knew the start was going to set the tone for district. I think they definitely executed that.”

The Lady Flames took control from the start and never trailed, building an 11-1 lead thanks to drives by guard Elleson Lehmberg and the inside presence of post Morgan Weems. By the end of the first period, Faith led 21-9.

That ballooned to 24-10 before the Lady Flames assembled their most impressive run of 15-5 to finish the first half courtesy of forward Claire Poage’s outside shooting and her and Weems’ offensive rebounds that led to second-chance points. Faith led 37-15 at the half and 54-27 after three quarters.

Faith used a combination of ways to score including picks-and-rolls, spot-up shots and fastbreak buckets.

The game belonged to Lehmberg, who showed her ability to drive to the bucket from either side of the basket. She often ducked under posts players, accepted the contact and didn’t allow the bumps to interrupt her shot.

By the end, Lehmberg had dropped in 19 points, while Weems added 17 and Poage scored 14.

“I’m especially proud of Elleson,” Canada said. “Elleson executed our offense and played tough offensively and defensively.”

The Lady Crusaders outscored the Lady Flames 19-6 in the final period, which was on Canada’s mind.

“Defensively, I think there’s room for improvement,” she said. “We didn’t give them too many times to get second-chance opportunities. In this game, we made sure that didn’t happen.”

Faith travels to face Temple Holy Trinity at 6 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6.

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