Faith Academy boys basketball beats Waco Live Oak
CAPTION: Faith Academy senior forward Asher Apel scores for the Flames after being honored in a senior night ceremony before tipoff against Waco Live Oak. Photo by Stennis Shotts
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys basketball team is looking to end the regular season the same way – with a district title.
But standing in the way is Temple Central Texas Christian.
The two teams play at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, at The Fire Pit. Before that, the junior varsity plays at 5 p.m. and the girls varsity takes the floor at 6 p.m.
If the Flames win and Waco Live Oak loses, the Flames win the District 4-3A play crown of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools. If Faith and Live Oak both win or both lose, they share the district title. If Live Oak wins and Faith loses, then the Falcons are the lone district champions.
The reason for a possible co-district championship is because Faith beat Waco Live Oak 61-51 Feb. 7.
The Falcons, who (10-1) were ranked No. 1 in the TAPPS Class 3A poll of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches, and the Flames, who were ranked No. 2 in the same poll, split the season series and are tied for first in the district standings.
The Flames led 16-6 after the first quarter, 43-39 at the half and 43-39 after three periods.
The Falcons (10-1) took the lead a couple of times in the final stanza. But the Flames simply wouldn’t be denied.
When the game was tied at 47-47, Faith answered with a 14-4 run to end the contest.
Faith put the game on ice in the final minute thanks to hitting timely free throws.
“Credit to (head) coach (Kyle) Combs and their team,” head coach Zakk Revelle said. “They’re always so well prepared and we knew they would be and they just played a heck of a game. By the grace of God, we were able to pull it out. But I’m just so proud of our guys.”
Part of what makes the Falcons difficult to defend, Revelle pointed out, is the number of offensive plays. The coach noted those plays can be tiring for defenders, who are constantly chasing who they’re guarding.
“I’m just really proud of them and the mental effort it takes to play,” the coach said. “Defensively it’s a lot because they run so many sets and they’re so good at what they do that you have to be locked. In the whole game, you can’t let up. I was honestly ticked at halftime because we let up a couple times. We gave up back-to-back 3-pointers to end the half. If we just lock in mentally, we maybe take those away. And then they hit the one at the end of the third quarter, same thing. That’s the thing. When you play Live Oak, you have to be locked in mentally from the jump. You can not just go out there and kind of willy-nilly. They make you play hard.”
As a team, Faith was 13 for 17 from the foul line, while Live Oak missed all three of its attempts.
“That was big time,” Revelle said. “We didn’t miss two in a row.”
All-state sophomore guard Will Slyker led with 27 points thanks to connecting on 9 pf 10 free throws and scoring nine 2-pointers. Sophomore forward Seattle Hampton followed with 15 points, while junior center Judah Phillips contributed 10, senior forward Asher Apel added 6, and junior guard Jase Marshall finished with 3.
Some Flames had been ill leading up to the game, so there weren’t a lot of substitutions. But that didn’t mean those players didn’t contribute, Revelle said.
“The energy and the effort, the mental effort from the bench of explaining where (the Falcons) were, talking guys through screens and in the first half, being really, really good and really locked in,” he said. “I was really proud. We obviously have guys that are good players and we want to utilize them and play the best players as much as we can.”
