Faith Academy girls basketball loses close contest to Temple Central Texas Christian

CAPTION: Faith Academy post Morgan Weems drives to the basket to score a bucket during the Lady Flames’ loss to Temple Central Texas Christian. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls basketball team lost to Temple Central Texas Christian 40-35 Jan. 10 after beating Temple Holy Trinity 64-11 Jan. 6.

Head coach Kat Canada couldn’t help but praise her Lady Flames (2-1 in District 3-3A play of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools) for their record.

“I’m really happy with the way we played,” she said.

The contest against CTC came down to free throws where Faith finished 7 of 22 for the contest.

“We lost because we missed free throws,” the coach said. “If we make half of those, we win. You never want to lose a district game. But the free throws, we can work with that. We can make free throws and lessen our turnovers and stick to our game plan.”

Faith led 4-2 to begin the contest but found itself in a 13-4 deficit early in the second quarter. That run ended when guard Elleson Lehmberg found post Morgan Weems for a bucket that teammate Alayna Steele matched with a basket of her own. Claire Poage and McKenzie Ahrlett each added a free throw to trim the deficit to 13-10.

But the Lady Lions ended the half on a 12-3 run for a 25-13 advantage at the break. Lehmberg scored on a free throw and Audri Poage scored off an offensive rebound.

The two teams traded baskets to begin the third period. Faith trailed when Weems drove to the basket and was fouled while shooting a lay-up. The ball spun five times inside the rim before falling in for a 3-point play. Weems ended the quarter with another bucket to cut into the deficit 31-22 headed into the final period.

The Lady Flames applied pressure to CTC thanks to a Weems’ free throw, an Ahrlett 3-pointer and a driving lay-up from Lehmberg that made the score 34-32 with 3 minutes and 42 seconds left in the contest.

But the Lady Lions ended the game on a 6-3 run to escape The Fire Pit with a win.

Canada said her players were discouraged during the half-time break, and she wouldn’t let them stay there.

“I told them, ‘We’re still in this, we’re in the fight,'” she recalled saying. “Our conditioning is better. We stepped it up, and we responded well.”

She noted the many positives in the ways the Lady Flames scored. During the district opening win against Round Rock Christian, Faith used the pick-and-roll. Against CTC, the Lady Flames scored on give-and-go lay-ups sprinkled in with jump shots. Weems was especially effective dribbling from the free throw line and curling to the basket.

“We work on that a lot,” Canada said. “We’ve been working the posts and been doing a lot of post-guard work. And we were making shots in the second half.”

Lehmberg led with 10 points followed by Ahrlett with 9, and Weems added 8.

Canada summed up the road win at Holy Trinity in one word.

“Execution,” the coach said. “The girls executed what I wanted them to do. We have the confidence. We’re working on it and drilling it in practice.”

The game couldn’t have started any better for Faith as the Lady Flames scored 27 points in the opening quarter. Freshman Natalie Weems recorded 10 points and 10 rebounds and Lehmberg dropped in 19 points followed by Morgan Weems with 12 points.

Faith will take a bye Friday, Jan. 13, then return to the court by hosting Waco Reicher Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 6 p.m.

“Natalie has a bright future,” the coach said. “All the pieces are doing their job. Everybody knows what to do and what’s expected. (The 2-1 record) sends us into the bye with good momentum. I’m super proud of them. We’re in a good spot mentally and physically.”

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