Faith Academy girls basketball advances to regional final

CAPTION: Faith Academy junior Natalie Weems played her most complete game of the season in leading the Lady Flames to the next round of the playoffs. Photo by Stennis Shotts

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls basketball team crushed Huntsville Alpha Omega Academy 57-37 Feb. 18 in the Class 3A playoffs of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.

Next up is a rematch against District 4-3A foe Waco Live Oak at 5 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 22, at Round Rock Christian.

As for the win against Alpha Omega Academy, which was a home game for the Lady Lions, Faith seized control quickly.

“I liked the matchup for us,” head coach Harvey Vaughn. “It was a doubleheader for them. We ruined the party. (My) girls were ready, they were fired up, they were focused. We had a very detailed game plan of how we wanted to play them defensively and offensively. They came out and executed.”

The opening five minutes of the contest had a single point separating the two teams. But Faith went on a run for a 17-9 lead in the first period that ballooned to a 25-16 advantage at the half and 41-24 lead after three quarters.

“We got a couple of turnovers that led to fast breaks,” Vaughn said of the opening stanza. “We had eight fouls in the first quarter. I had to make a couple of subs. Our offense dropped in the second quarter cause we had to protect the girls. We were at full strength in the third quarter. We were able to manage our fouling. We definitely play aggressive. With young girls, sometimes they reach when they shouldn’t or are trying to block shots when they shouldn’t.”

Junior post Natalie Weems led with 21 points and 21 rebounds, which confirmed what Vaughn believed going into the contest.

“Inside we had an advantage,” the coach said. “If we out rebounded them, I knew we could beat them. When we set up in our half-court offense, I knew we could take advantage. It was Natalie’s cleanest game.”

Freshman guard Cuyleigh Zimmerman added 9 points followed by senior post Hadley Shipley with 8 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal, sophomore guard Lilly Koziel had 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal, freshman guard Selby Sanchez scored 5 points and had a block, and freshman forward Olivia Kraenzel and sophomore post Megan Burrows each had 4 points. Kraenzel also had 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals, while Burrows had 3 rebounds.

Koziel, who played through illness, “hit two big 3-pointers that we needed at that time. She played the whole game and never had a sub,” Vaughn said.

Defensively, Zimmerman guarded the Lady Lions’ top player and made sure she wasn’t a factor.

“Cuyleigh has been a solid defender,” the coach said. “She held her to 2 points the whole game.”

District 4-3A prepared the playoff qualifiers very well as all four teams won their playoff games. Now San Antonio Keystone and San Antonio Lutheran will play in one regional final, while Faith takes on Live Oak in the other. That means the district will send two teams to the state tournament and one will play for the state championship.

Live Oak won both games against the Lady Flames 58-27 and 47-32 during the regular season. Vaughn said that while the second game was a 15-point loss, it was only a 12-7 game after the first period. Faith trailed 24-11 at the intermission and 39-18 after three quarters.

“I’ve been talking about and getting them to understand we have to come focused every day in practice and get better,” Vaughn said. “The goal was to get to the playoffs and get to that game. They’re a very good team. We’ll matchup and compete and see what happens.”