Faith Academy boys basketball stuns Bryan Brazos

CAPTION: Faith Academy sophomore guard Jase Marshall and the Flames shock Bryan Brazos Christian by getting steals and defensive stops and scoring in the final seconds for the victory. Photo by Stennis Shotts

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls boys basketball team defeated Bryan Brazos Christian 55-53 Feb. 6 in District 3-3A play of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools.

Head coach Zakk Revelle said earning a victory in this manner only helps the Flames.

“We’re playing meaningful games at the end of the season,” he said. “We hadn’t really experienced that. Last year, we didn’t perform well in the playoffs. So to go on the road and clinch at least a share of the district title is awesome.”

With 33 seconds remaining, Brazos hit a shot to make it a one-point game.

The Flames hurried down court and a whistle blew. Officials called Faith for a moving screen to give the ball back to Brazos, which called a timeout.

In the huddle Revelle told his players to start fouling to conserve time.

But instead of being deterred, Faith junior guard Asher Apel was empowered. He stole the ball on the throw-in and passed to freshman guard Will Slyker. Slyker dribbled the ball down the middle and was called for a charge with 25 seconds remaining.

Apel stole the ball again.

“He decided, ‘I’m not giving it up, I’m scoring,'” Revelle said. “He scored and was fouled and made the free throw.”

With the Flames leading 55-53, they made a defensive stand and got the rebound with 13 seconds left. Revelle called a timeout to draw up a play.

“Slyker is a great decoy,” the coach said. “We threw it to (sophomore guard) Jase Marshall and let the clock run.”

Brazos hit plenty of long jumpers, including 3-pointers during the contest. Revelle said the Flames made sure not to give the opponent a good look.

“It’s always good to win, especially on the road,” he said.

The Flames had a 3-point lead after the first period and trailed by two at the intermission. From there, both teams answered each other bucket for bucket until the final 33 seconds.

“It was very much a back-and-forth game,” Revelle said. “We like to make it fun for everybody. It’s the second year we’ve won by a possession on the road at their place.”

He also commended sophomore post Judah Phillips for his contributions on both sides of the ball.

“Judah played well, and we needed that on the road,” he said. “I was really impressed with them. As a coach you give them a scouting report, and you hope they listen. It was a great high school game, great atmosphere.”

Winning this type of contest speaks volumes about a team that going into this season was going to need time to learn and grow. Revelle believes this victory is the result of some tough lessons learned throughout the last several weeks.

“We did some immature things (earlier in the season),” he said. “We had turnovers, we forgot offensive and defensive assignments. When adversity hits, your maturity shows. It says a lot about how you handled it and much more more about your maturity. We showed maturity, and that’s big for this group. We’re playing with house money. We showed maturity to win. It was a statement for our program. We’re here to stay.”

The Flames need to win one of the next two games to be the outright district champions. They’ll get their next chance at Waco Live Oak Friday, Feb. 9. The boys junior varsity plays at 5 p.m., the girls varsity at 6 p.m., and the boys varsity at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re focused on Live Oak,” Revelle said. “We want to handle our business.”

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