Faith Academy girls basketball finishes third at Johnson City tourney
The Faith Academy of Marble Falls girls basketball team went 2-1 at the Lady Eagles Holiday Classic hosted by Johnson City Dec. 29-30.
The Lady Flames beat Crane 38-36 for third place and Fischer Canyon Lake 48-40 in the consolation bracket. They lost to Johnson City 46-29 to begin the tournament.
“I think it’s great,” head coach Harvey said of the finish. “That’s exactly what we needed to get, three tough games. In the first game we did not perform as well as we would have liked in the press break, not as consistent as we would have liked to have been. But I thought we regrouped and came out and played really well for stretches of the last two games. We struggled finishing, and I think some of that is just our lack of depth at this point that can handle that kind of pressure, and so they start wearing down and lose focus a little bit and just lose their energy. But they finished the (Crane) game strong. We had to hold on to win it.”
Faith, which led by as many as 14 points throughout the contest, clung to a one-point lead in the final 15 seconds when sophomore guard Cuyleigh Zimmerman hit a free throw. Then senior Natalie Weems had the defensive play of the contest that allowed the Lady Flames to run out the clock.
“Their pressure started getting to us a little bit and we just didn’t execute the way we needed to and the way we had been,” Vaughn said. “You know how it goes when you get tired and that pressure starts getting to you. The momentum swing quick. We played really good defense and Natalie stepped in and made a big steal to seal that.”
Weems also contributed big on the offensive side. The Lady Flames fed her the ball in the low block, and she knew what to do, the coach said.
“We play a lot more relaxed when we’re playing with a lead than we are when we’re playing from behind, especially if we’ve missed a few easy shots and we’re starting to get frustrated,” he said. “We’re a young team, and they have a tendency to get frustrated if we don’t get out to a good start.”
He believes “getting the good starts” propelled the outcome against Canyon Lake, too, where the Lady Flames raced to a 21-1 lead.
“Then (we) kind of faded as our conditioning and the pressure built up,” the coach said. “We did what we had to do to win, but we need to be able to close a little better. I thought our rebounding was outstanding, especially the last two games. Natalie and (sophomore) Layla Terrell were just beasts on the backboards. I know both of them had to have double-digit rebounds the last two games.”
The Lady Flames will welcome San Antonio Keystone Monday, Jan. 5, in the District 4-3A opener of the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools then travel to play Blanco Tuesday, Jan. 6. Both games tip off at 6 p.m.
“Overall, I thought the girls played well, exactly what we needed,” Vaughn said. “They took the challenge. It was very physical. They did not call many fouls, so it was challenging and they held up to the challenge.”
