Anniston’s Faith Christian Holds on

Anniston – Faith Christian Lions are thankful for their victory. Weaver rallied but missed a shot at the buzzer

GLENCOE TOURNAMENT

Boys Games

Faith Christian 59. Weaver 58

Fort Payne 79; Glencoe 54

Al Muskewitz

Faith Christian’s coaches and players will be sharing their gratitude at the holiday table with one another Thursday.

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

It’s more than the win, it’s how it happened.

With 90 seconds remaining, the Lions trailed by nine. But they nearly lost it all. Tristan Brown of Weaver stole an inbounds pass for a one-point game. He missed a shot at the buzzer.

“Coach has a great title for this game, and he said that if there were a game called “Hold My Beer,” this would be it,” Faith coach Cory Hughes stated. “We played completely dumb basketball, and when we thought we couldn’t do anything more dumber, we did something even dumber.

“Our guys, regardless of fatigue or youthfulness, it could be fatigue or just youthfulness. But walking away with a win is the best thing that we can do tonight. We just played terrible.

“We are grateful for the win. A win is better than a defeat.

It was close throughout the game with 13 lead changes. After a five-point possession on Hughes that resulted in a technical foul, Weaver led 41-41 with six minutes remaining. Faith then regained control and was up 59-50.

With four seconds remaining, the Bearcats regained the lead when Dalton Homesley made a 3-pointer from the right corner. They had to get it done quickly if they were going to have a chance. With time running out, Brown stole Thomas Curlee’s inbounds pass underneath the basket and made a quick shot that hit the backboard but fell away just as the horn sounded.

Beau Winn, Weaver’s coach, said that with just a minute and half left to play, he didn’t know if there were many teams that would not just give up and go on. But these boys aren’t going to quit and that’s a testimony to them. We missed many shots under the basket. They got an offensive rebound with the one and one that was very painful. But they wanted to keep going. They wanted to make it a continuing game.

Faith’s Curlee was the top scorer with 30 points. The Lions had to look for other options after Yoshi Arevalo was injured. Conner Richerzhagen gave them 11; Eli Robinson had seven; Joseph Carroll had six, on two easy 3-pointers from right corner late third quarter; Parker Robertson had five.

Jeffrey Miles did not play for Weaver, but he was the Bearcats’ leading scorer with 18 points. He was quick to get involved once he started the game. He scored the first two points of the second quarter, giving them a lead of 16-14. Then he scored the last eight points in the third quarter to bring them within one. Armane Burton scored 12 points, while Brown had 11.

Luke Stephens scored 15 points of his 36 in the first quarter for Fort Payne, which won 79-54 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 3-3 0-0 7, Joseph Carroll 2-9 0-0 6, Parker Robertson 2-09 0-0 5, Tyler Bell 1-3 0-0 0, Carson Limbaugh 1-0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-58 7-9 59.

WEAVER Tristan Brown 5-1 11, Elijah Smith 8 2-2 18, Jeffrey Miles 3 1-1 7, Kaden Allen 3 1-1 7, KadenGooden 0–0-0 0, Dawson Brooks 2 1-5 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 3-3, Richerzhagen 1-7. Robinson 1-2. Carroll 2-3. Robertson 1-4. Bell 0-1); Weaver 2-1 (Brown and Homesley). Rebounds: Faith 20; Curlee 7, Robinson 6, Weaver 35. Technical fouls: Faith coach Hughes. Brooks was fouled out. Total fouls: Faith 13, Weaver 13 Officials: Childs, Dupree, Guyton.

FORT PAYNE, GLENCOE 56

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.