Friday night’s basketball game between North Cross and Faith Christian was billed as a battle of speed versus height.
While the defense of Faith Christian 7-foot-2 center Brendan Newton definitely sidetracked the Raiders, it was the Warriors’ scoring from behind-the-arc that provided the knockout punch.
Hitting seven long-range bombs to go along with Newton”s 8 blocks and 9 rebounds, Faith Christian pulled off the 45-39 shocker on the opening night of the JingleBall Tournament in the Warrior gym.
North Cross’ only lead of the game was 3-2, and the Raiders looked to be in good shape to take control with their patented running game when Newton headed to the Faith Christian bench after picking up his second personal foul just three minutes into the first quarter.
But, the Warriors, patient with their attack, started hitting from the outside and North Cross suddenly became plagued by turnovers.
Faith Christian led 14-9 after one quarter and went to the halftime break up 28-24, with 15 of their total points coming after dialing up five 3-pointers.
North Cross didn’t score its first points of the third quarter until 2:05 remained, and trailed 37-29 heading to the final frame.
The Raiders continued to find their drives into the paint were in a no-fly zone with Newton’s presence, and the Warriors stretched their lead to 42-31 with 3:29 left in the game.
North Cross went on a 8-1 run capped off by a Jordan Lowery 3-pointer with 13.8 seconds left that cut the Warrior lead to 43-39. But, North Cross still needed to commit two fouls to put Faith Cristian in the bonus, allowing the Warriors to drain six seconds off the clock before Warrior Johnny Weber finished the deal for Faith by hitting both ends of a one-and-one.
“Faith Christian controlled the game and managed the clock all night,” North Cross head coach Ed Green noted inside the Raider locker room afterward. “When we collapsed in the middle, they found the open man on the outside. On our end, we’d go inside and he (Newton) would block the shot. We became intimidated.”
“I’ve been here five years and this is the first time we’ve come close to beating North Cross,” Faith Christian head coach Pete Alterio said. “We knew we were not going to get in a running match with them. North Cross collapsed on our big man, but he’s surrounded by a lot of talent. When they double teamed him, he got it out and we hit some shots. They shut him down with his scoring (4 points), but he got 8 blocks and 9 rebounds.”
Weber led the Faith Christian scoring with 11 points, while Noah Barnhart added 10.
Lowery and Tyler Slash paced the North Cross offense with 10 points apiece.
Bill Turner