Anniston’s Faith Christian Holds On

Anniston, AL – Faith Christian Lions thankful for their victory; it almost got away as Weaver rallied and missed a shot at the buzzer

GLENCOE TOURNAMENT
Boys Games
Faith Christian 59, Weaver 58
Fort Payne 79, Glencoe 54

By Al Muskewitz

When Faith Christian’s players and coaches gather around their respective holiday tables Thursday sharing all the things they’re thankful for, there’s one more thing they’ll be sure to mention.

Wednesday’s 59-58 victory over Weaver on the final day of the Glencoe Thanksgiving Tournament.

It’s not just the victory, it’s the way it came about.

The Lions led by nine with 90 seconds left, but nearly lost it all and had to hold their breath as Weaver’s Tristan Brown stole an inbounds pass in a one-point game and missed a shot around the rim at the buzzer.

“Coach has a good title for this game, he said if there was a game called ‘Hold My Beer,’ this would be it,” Faith coach Cory Hughes said. “We just played totally dumb basketball and when I thought we couldn’t do anything dumber we did something dumber.

“Our guys, whether it’s fatigue, whether it’s just youthfulness, whether it’s a combination of both, I don’t know, but walking away with a W is about the only thing we can be happy about tonight because we just played awful.

“We are thankful to have the win. A win is always better than a loss.”

The game was tight throughout with 13 lead changes. Weaver held a 42-41 lead with six minutes left after a five-point possession around a technical foul on Hughes, but Faith shook it off and went back up 59-50.

The Bearcats got it back within one when Dalton Homesley hit a 3 from the right corner with four seconds left. They needed to make something happen quick if they wanted a chance and with time running out Brown stole Thomas Curlee’s inbounds pass under the basket and put up a rushed shot that hit the backboard and fell away as the horn sounded.

“With a minute and a half to play I don’t know there aren’t a lot of teams out there that wouldn’t just go ahead and just chalk it up, but these boys don’t quit and that’s a testament to them,” Weaver coach Beau Winn said. “We missed a lot of shots under the basket, they got that offensive rebound with the one-and-one that kind of hurt and we could have just folded up our chairs and went home, but they didn’t want to do that. They wanted to keep making a game out of it.”

Faith’s Curlee led all scorers with 30 points. With Yoshi Arevalo unavailable, the Lions needed to find other options. Conner Richerzhagen gave them 11, Eli Robinson had seven, Joseph Carroll had six on two effortless 3-pointers from the right corner late in the third quarter, and Parker Robertson added five.

Jeffrey Miles didn’t start for Weaver (coach’s decision), but he led the Bearcats in scoring with 18 points. Once he got in the game he wasted no time getting involved. He scored their first two buckets of the second quarter go give them a 16-14 lead and he scored their last eight points of the third quarter to draw them within one. Armane Burton had 12 points and Brown had 11.

In the day’s other boys game, Luke Stephens scored 15 of his 36 points in the first quarter to send Fort Payne on its way to a 79-54 win over Glencoe.

FAITH CHRISTIAN 59, WEAVER 58
FAITH CHRISTIAN (3-2) –  Thomas Curlee 12-19 5-6 30, Conner Richerzhagen 4-18 2-3 11, Eli Robinson 3-6 0-0 7, Joseph Carroll 2-3 0-0 6, Parker Robertson 2-9 0-0 5, Tyler Bell 0-3 0-0 0, Carson Limbaugh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 7-9 59.
WEAVER – Tristan Brown 5 0-0 11, Elijah Smith 0 0-0 0, Jeffrey Miles 8 2-2 18, Keshawn Allen 3 1-1 7, Kaden Gooden 0 0-0 0, Dawson Brooks 2 1-2 5, Dalton Homesley 1 0-0 3, Jackson Williams 1 0-0 2, Armane Burton 4 4-4 12. Totals 24-52 8-9 58.

3-point goals: Faith 6-20 (Curlee 1-3, Richerzhagen 1-7, Robinson 1-2, Carroll 2-3, Robertson 1-4, Bell 0-1); Weaver 2-11 (Brown, Homesley). Rebounds: Faith 20 (Curlee 7, Robinson 6); Weaver 35. Technical fouls: Faith coach Hughes. Fouled out: Brooks. Total fouls: Faith 13, Weaver 13. Officials: Childs, Dupree, Guyton.

FORT PAYNE 79, GLENCOE 54
FORT PAYNE – Ethan Evett 2 0-0 6, Luke Stephens 15 5-6 36, Jake Barnes 2 0-0 4, Nolan Fowler 2 0-1 4, Kobe King 0 0-0 0, Alan Harcrow 4 2-2 13, Levi Crow 0 0-0 0, Jackson Banks 4 1-2 10, Conner Kinsley 2 0-0 4, Bennett Blanks 1 0-0 2. Totals 32 8-11 79.
GLENCOE – Garrett Morgan 3 2-2 9, Aiden Cornutt 4 1-2 11, Wade Segrest 4 3-4 14, Braylen Smith 0 1-2 1, Jayden Patton 0 1-2 1, Baylor Langdale 0 0-0 0, Nolan Fairley 1 0-0 2, Andrew Greene 6 2-2 14, Colt Russell 1 0-0 2, Ian McClantoc 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 10-14 54.

3-point goals: Fort Payne 7 (Evett 2, Stephens, Harcrow 3, Banks); Glencoe 6 (Morgan, Cornutt 2, Segrest 3). Total fouls: Fort Payne 15, Glencoe 13.