Faith Christian splits with Falls Road varsities

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on December 17, 2006 2:01 AM

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Bigger is better.

At least that was the case Friday night for Faith Christian.

The Conquerors' big men abused a smaller Falls Road squad for easy baskets in a 78-68, Class 2-A N.C. Christian Schools Association Coastal Region game.

Faith Christian outscored Falls Road 42-6 in the paint.

"We stressed getting the ball inside," said Faith Christian coach Jeff Stocks. "We really didn't think with their size that they could guard us too good."

Inside is where the trio of T.J. Sasser, Aaron Sladick and Jeremy Sandlin did most of the damage. Sasser scored a team-high 23 points, while Sandlin added 19. Sandlin contributed a double-double -- 17 points, 10 rebounds.

While the Crusaders struggled to get anything inside, their outside game flourished. Falls Road knocked down 15 shots from behind the arc. Adam Stallins and Evan Brondyke combined to hit 13 of those shots.

Stallins led the Crusaders with a game-high 32 points, while Brondyke finished with 21.

"Honestly not a lot," said Stocks on what the Conquerors did to slow down Stallins. "We thought maybe one guy won't beat us. I don't know if we could've played much better on him."

"We maybe could have doubled him more, but Falls Road has so many guys that can shoot that we didn't want to do that."

Stallins and Brondyke combined for five three-pointers in the first quarter and gave the Crusaders a 19-14 advantage with 1:55 to go. Faith Christian answered with a 7-0 run and grabbed a 22-19 lead -- which they'd never lose.

Stallins attempted to bring Falls Road back in the third quarter. He scored five straight points to pull the Crusaders within 48-44. But Falls Road committed three turnovers and missed two shots on its next five possessions.

The Conquerors continued to push the ball inside to Sladick, who scored 16 points in the second half.

"(Sladick) loves to play and said 'put me on the block, coach' and it worked," said Stocks. "He did step up."

In the fourth quarter, Stallins did all he could to cut into the Faith Christian lead as he drilled three straight shots from long range, but the deficit still remained at 14.

Falls Road never got closer then 10 the rest of the night.

Faith Christian improved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in NCCSA 2-A Coastal Region play. The Crusaders fell to 3-2 and 2-1 in regional play.

"I think we're a pretty good team," said Stocks. "It was a fun game to watch."

The Faith Christian girls didn't have nearly the same luck against Falls Road in a 49-19 loss.

Poor shooting and 32 turnovers doomed the Conquerors on the night.

"We didn't shoot well at all and we had 30-plus turnovers," said Conquerors' coach Eddie Smith. "(Falls Road) was a good team. They hit the outside shot."

The Crusaders got hot from the outside with Kristen Godwin and Noelia Gonzalez doing all the damage. Godwin scored a game-high 12 points by hitting four first-half three pointers. Gonzalez added two treys and finished with eight points.

Faith Christian was led by Alyssa Hill with nine points.

"When you've only got one girl nearing double figures, it's going to be a long night," said Smith.

Falls Road jumped out to a 16-6 first quarter advantage, thanks to three of Godwin's three-pointers. Smith changed from a 1-3-1 zone to a 3-2 scheme to prevent Godwin from getting open looks on the perimeter.

The defensive switch held the Crusaders to just 17 points in the next two quarters. Faith Christian, however, managed just 13 points for the rest of the game.

"We don't have a lot of scoring talent so if we play another team that can really put points on the board then we're in trouble," said Smith.

Faith Christian dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in the region. Falls Road climbed to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the region.

Boys game

Falls Road 19 17 14 18 -- 68

F. Christian 22 19 19 18 -- 78

FALLS ROAD (3-2, 2-1)

Adam Stallins 4 7 3-4 32, Evan Brondyke 0 6 3-4 21, Ethan Cunningham 0 2 0-0 6, Brian Weaver 2 0 0-0 4, Mikah Brondyke 1 0 1-2 3, Tim Winstead 1 0 0-4 2. TOTALS -- 8 15 7-14 68.

FAITH CHRISTIAN (6-1, 3-0)

T.J. Sasser 6 3 2-2 23, Aaron Sladick 8 0 3-5 19, Jeremy Sandlin 7 0 3-5 17, Nathaniel Patel 3 1 0-0 9, Taylor Stocks 0 1 1-2 4, Blake Plummer 1 0 0-0 2, Brad Floars 1 0 0-1 2, Austen Webber 0 0 2-2 2. TOTALS -- 26 5 11-17 78.

Girls game

Falls Road 16 9 8 16 -- 49

Faith Christian 6 3 5 5 -- 19

FALLS ROAD (3-1, 3-0)

Kristen Godwin 0 4 0-0 12, Brittany Harrell 5 0 0-0 10, Noelia Gonzalez 0 2 2-2 8, Jordan Fisher 2 0 3-7 7, Ashley Baker 3 0 0-0 6, B.J. Legg 1 0 1-2 3, Sarah Turner 1 0 0-0 2, Jessica Edwards 0 0 1-4 1. TOTALS -- 12 6 7-15 49.

FAITH CHRISTIAN (2-3, 1-2)

Alyssa Hill 4 0 1-3 9, Lindsey Godwin 1 0 0-0 2, Katie Best 1 0 0-0 2, Amie Hill 1 0 0-0 2, Katie Stevens 1 0 0-0 2, Kristen Maddox 0 0 1-2 1, Renee Provencal 0 0 1-3 1, Madison Caudle 0 0 0-2 0, Jennifer Christopher 0 0 0-1 0. TOTALS -- 8 0 3-10 19.