Faith Christian Academy turned up its defensive pressure and transition offense, outscoring Covenant Christian 11-2 in the third quarter on its way to a 28-23 JV victory over Covenant's 5th- and 6th-grade squad on Thursday at FCA.
After a passive first half, the Falcons led 11-10 at intermission before they increased their defensive and offensive effort and intensity, forcing a series of turnovers and low-percentage shots that FCA converted into defensive rebounds leading to fast break baskets and easy shots near the rim. Ben Riner started the spurt with a cut to the basket for a layup and then a second layup at the end of a fast break, and Ethan Hansen's fast-break lay-in boosted the lead to 17-10. A free throw by Ethan and another driving layup by Ben pushed Faith ahead 20-10, and Chris Nosewicz capped the run with an offensive putback that moved FCA in front by double digits at 22-12 heading into the fourth quarter. The third-quarter run was one of the JV's best quarters of the season!
A pair of fourth-quarter jumpers from Cole Schulze maintained Faith's 10-point cushion, and a pull-up jumper from Ben secured FCA's biggest lead of the game at 28-17 en route to the win.
Ben paced the Falcons with 17 points on 8-for-14 shooting, going 4 for 5 shooting in the second half, while hauling in a game-high 10 rebounds, nine on the defensive glass, to help limit Covenant to one shot on most possessions. Ben earned the hustle award while Cole won the best attitude award for playing hard-nosed defense on the perimeter and scoring 6 points with 2 assists at point guard. Great job, guys!
The JV improved its season record to 3-0 with the victory. The Falcons are 6-2 overall.
