If you can’t get through the trees, just go over the forest.
That was the route Faith Christian took Friday night in the Jim Muscaro gym as the visiting Warriors hit eight times from behind-the-arc to hold off North Cross 49-43.
It was the third straight time this season Faith Christian has beaten the Raiders by 6 points, following two six-pointers in as many nights in December’s JingleBall Tournament in the Warrior gym.
“This was the best 3-point effort we’ve had all year,” Faith Christian head coach Pete Alterio said afterward. “It’s hard to play here, always hard. North Cross plays tough defense against our big man (7ft-2 Brendan Newton) . Tonight, Brendan got 9 points and that’s the most he’s scored against them in the three games.”
“The key for us tonight was holding North Cross to 6 points in the fourth quarter and taking care of the basketball in the second half. We had ten turnovers in the first half, but changed everything around during halftime to get our offense on track.”
The tone was set right out of the gate as the two teams swapped 3-pointers to open the game.
North Cross led 12-8 after one quarter, and 26-25 heading to the break as the teams combined for 9 treys in the opening half.
Things stayed tight in the third quarter with five lead changes. North Cross held the biggest lead of the frame at 33-30 before Faith closed with an 8-4 run to go to the fourth up 38-37.
The game was tied at 41 with just over 5 minutes left when the Raider’s shooting touch went cold, enabling the Warriors to score two straight baskets, the last coming from Newton on a muscle-move in the paint that put Faith Christian up 45-41.
North Cross closed to 45-43, but with three fouls to give before reaching the bonus, the Warriors held the ball while the Raiders were forced to chase and foul.
North Cross picked up its fifth foul with 35 seconds remaining, and 5 seconds later Newton scored in the paint to make it 47-43. North Cross committed a 5-second violation on an inbounds play in the final 15 seconds and Faith settled any doubts when Johnny Weber sank both ends of a one-and-one with 3 seconds left.
“We had 15 turnovers tonight, and that will kill you every time,” North Cross head coach Ed Green said in the Raider locker room. “We’ve done a good job all three games of holding down their big-man. But, our defense made some bad decisions and we didn’t close out on their perimeter players. They were able to make the 8 three-pointers. There’s 24 points. Their guards hit those shots all three games.”
Leading the way from the outside for Faith Christian was Andy Waldo, with 3 treys. Weber and sophomore Noah Barnhart each had two, while freshman Ian Alligood cashed in once from long range. Barnhart had a team-high 10 points for the Warriors, while Waldo joined Newton with 9 points, with Weber adding 8.
Junior Chase Overton led North Cross with a game-high 13 points, with senior Peyton Bailey and junior Josh Greenway both knocking down 8.
Bill Turner