Faith Academy boys basketball eliminates Conroe Covenant
CAPTION: Faith Academy junior Jase Marshall contributed some big buckets to help the Flames advance in the playoffs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys basketball team scorched Conroe Covenant Christian School 70-21 Feb. 18 to begin the Class 3A playoffs of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.
Faith meets Huntsville Alpha Omega Academy at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 21, at Waco Vanguard in the regional final.
To say the Flames played fast is an understatement. Many times throughout the first half, a quick ball handler would get a defensive rebound and instead of looking for an outlet, he took it upon himself to lead the fast break. That resulted in one-pass lay-ups, a reward for the teammate who outsprinted everyone to the other end.
The result was a 9-2 run in the final 2 minutes and 23 seconds of the opening stanza to build a 24-10 lead after the first period and 52-12 at the break.
“That’s something that we work on all the time,” head coach Zakk Revelle said. “We want to push the pace, we want to play fast. If we’re not doing that, we can get ourselves in a bad spot. Teams know that obviously we can play in the halfcourt if we need to, we can be efficient offensively in the halfcourt if we need to. But I think our guys want to get out and play, they want to play fast. And so if they want to do it, let’s let them do it. It’s fun for people to watch, but again it all starts on the defensive end. Wes can’t get out and run unless we can get stops on the defensive end.”
That also means a commitment to rebounding, he added, a bullet point during practices, team meetings and timeouts, he added, noting the team didn’t believe it rebounded well during the 79-31 victory against Central Texas Christian Feb. 11 and gave up extra possessions to Waco Live Oak during the 61-51 win Feb. 7.
“We thought that kept the game closer than it needed to be,” Revelle said. “In the playoffs, you can’t give up extra possessions.”
In the third quarter, Revelle mixed in reserves with some starters who built a 67-17 lead headed into the fourth quarter. Reserves took over in the final period. The second half featured a running clock in a contest that lasted no more than an hour.
Faith scored eighteen 2-pointers, eight 3-pointers and was 10 for 16 from the foul line. Covenant dropped in eight 2-pointers, a 3-pointer, and was 2 for 4 from the foul line.
All-state sophomore guard Will Slyker led with 21 points followed by junior guard Jase Marshall with 16, junior center Judah Phillips added 13, forward Seattle Hampton scored 9, senior forward Asher Apel dropped in 8, and Lehmberg finished with 3.
No matter who was playing, the intensity never dropped, which is another staple of the team.
“We talk about it all the time,” the coach said. “It’s a basketball game. Don’t disrespect the game by not playing hard the whole time. But also for those guys who get in at the end, this is an opportunity for you to get to play. So why not go out there and play as hard as you can. For us, it’s really the culture of our team that we’re going to play hard. I think that teams know that about us. At this point you better play hard against Faith Academy, because they’re going to play hard. And if you don’t, know it could be a problem for you. And I was really proud of those guys, especially at the end of the game.”
