The Varsity boys of Faith Academy took out to Round Rock Sports Complex to take play in the TAIAO State Tournament Feb. 17 ant 18.
Losing key players throughout the year, the Knights stepped up to play their guts out for a great showing for the tournament.
The Knights started their tournament off Feb. 17 at 8 a.m. against Hill County Longhorns.
The Knights were on fire right out of the gate. After three minutes in the contest, the Knights found themselves ahead 18-2.
Freshman, Joe Bob Lequerica hit three 3-pointers in that first three minutes. Gabe Mike ska, also freshman, hit another and an impressive layup to get the Knights off to a great start.
It didn’t end there. Senior John Poorman added two 3-pointers, as well as some tough, high-grabbing rebounds.
The other senior on the team, Jonah Taake, fractured his foot in the contest on Tuesday night before the tournament in the Knights last home game.
With the big lead, Coaches Trey Carter and Kenneth Woodley, decided to put him under their goal (not play defense) in the last two minutes of the contest, to allow him to score in his Senior State Tournament.
Outstanding defensive play by Travis Woodley, Dylan Callihan, and Andrew Stolz (sophomores), let the Knights cruise to an early victory with a score of 64-22.
Following that game, the Knights took on El Paso Homeschool Panthers in their second contest of the day. Once again, the Knights jumped out to a big lead with 3-pointers by Lequeri- ca and Mikeska, as well as some huge hustle plays and strong rebounds - put backs by Woodley.
Sophomore Everett Yates also added some defensive tenacity scrambling for loose balls that lead up to easy layups.
Freshman Gage Wilson added some jump shots and an acrobatic layup for his first six points going into the half, with the Knights in the lead 42-18. Freshman Josh Stark started the second half with a 3-pointer that sparked the Knights exciting play for the remainder of the contest. Callihan also added two late 3-pointers, to seal the Knights spot in the
semi-finals against Founders Classical of Leander. The final score for the Knights was 68-41.
On Feb. 18 The Knights were in the semi-finals against the Founders Classical of Leander.
Founders jumped out to an early lead of 15-6, with some bad turnovers and errant passes by the Knights.
After a timeout, the coaches threw some encouragement at the players, and they turned it up to get back into the game. More 3-pointers for Lequerica and Mikeska found the Knights just down one.
Woodley, playing big in the paint, dominated the boards. His physical, tough play sparked the Knights to keep fighting. Also helping down low in the paint, was Andrew Stolz, who got physical and fought for rebounds.
Dylan Callihan made some good cuts on the offensive side of the ball and got some good layups towards the end of the contest.
But Founders was just too much for the Knights, pulling away after two late 3 pointers, with just two minutes left.
Founders would take down the Knights, 54-41.
