Faith Academy girls basketball wins own tourney for first time

CAPTION: Faith Academy junior guard Lilly Koziel was an offensive spark plug for the Lady Flames. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls basketball team won its own tournament Dec. 13-14 thanks to earning four convincing victories.

The Lady Flames (9-4) defeated Cherokee 45-30, Austin Regents 51-37, Fredericksburg Heritage 65-18 and Austin Waldorf 66-40.

Going into the event, head coach Harvey Vaughn told assistant coach Steve Hatch that he would have been happy with a 3-1 record. The Lady Flames did better.

“This is the first time they’ve ever won their own tournament,” Vaughn said. “We had seven days of practice straight. It was a big help. It was night and day in their execution. It just started clicking. They understand what they’re supposed to be doing. And so it’s limiting those unforced turnovers that just come for no reason, and that’s a big deal.” 

En route to the perfect weekend, Faith had a complete turnaround against a Regents squad that prevailed 55-24 Nov. 11 in the season opener. Regents brings “heavy, heavy pressure” though the squad has only seven players and a new coach.

“I was cautiously optimistic that we could make it a game,” Vaughn said. “It was tight for a little while, but we dominated them on defense in the second half.”

Regents led 14-11 after the first quarter and the game was tied 23-23 at the intermission. Then the Lady Flames exploded for 19 points in the quarter. By the end the Lady Flames had a 41-32 advantage going into the final stanza.

“We pressed Regents hard for the whole first half,” the coach said. “They pressed us for about half of the first quarter. We kept scoring on them, and so they had to stop, which was a total opposite of the first game where they pressed us.” 

Junior guard Lilly Koziel led with 13 points followed by sophomore guard Olivia Kraenzel with 13 and senior post Natalie Weems scored 13.

For three quarters against Heritage, Faith didn’t let up. The Lady Flames led 17-6 after the first period, 26-8 at the break, and 46-13 going into the final stanza.

Koziel led with 20 points and Weems scored 11. Nine of the 12 Lady Flames scored.

“Lilly played the best two games she’s ever played in her life,” Vaughn said. “She limited her turnovers and just made good decisions. She lit it up.”

Faith had a statement win against Waldorf where they earned a 22-10 advantage by the end of the first quarter that went to 37-19 at the half and 57-27 after three periods.

Koziel dropped in 18 points while Kraenzel scored 15 and seems had 13.

Faith had enough energy to take care of Cherokee in the final matchup of the weekend, racing to a 16-1 lead in the first quarter thanks to forcing turnovers and quick buckets from its press. The Lady Flames led 29-9 at the half.

Weems led with 22 points, while sophomore forward Layla Terrell dropped in 12.

“I didn’t think Cherokee played poorly,” Vaughn said. “I knew it was going to be a competitive game with us. I knew that they were very scrappy, very competitive and were going to make you work for everything. I was trying to pound it inside to Natalie because we had an advantage in height with that.”

He noted Faith’s foul trouble “starts to deplete our resources to get the ball across half-court, and they did a good job of putting pressure on us in the second half to get it closer. But we we maintained our composure, and then extended it back up.”

This was the first time the Lady Flames played in a contest since their 51-40 victory against Leander Founders Classical Dec. 2 and it showed.

“We’ve gone to the press now so that obviously adds a whole lot to our ability to get points,” Vaughn said. “We had that seven days of practice and the girls really worked on it and they took to it right to them. They have a full understanding and run it extremely well. I was surprised and impressed with how well and how quickly they picked it up.” 

The Lady Flames have two challenging games this week before breaking for a few days for the Christmas holiday.

They welcome McKinney Cornerstone Tuesday, Dec. 16, and Austin Hill Country Friday, Dec. 19. Tipoffs are at 6 p.m. Hill Country is ranked No. 4 in the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools’ Class 4A poll of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches.

CAPTION: Faith sophomore forward Layla Terrell (left) and sophomore guard Cuyleigh Zimmerman (right) made Austin Waldorf uncomfortable for four quarters. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro