GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Conquerors off to hot start

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on November 30, 2016 10:00 AM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

Faith Christian coach Jeff Stocks will be the first one to say that Conqueror girls' basketball and winning usually aren't paired together in the same sentence.

Early into the 2016 season, that mentality is slowly changing. Tuesday's 40-24 victory over Trinity Christian provided yet another step in the right direction.

The Conquerors are now 4-1 on the season, and have won three straight contests. The program tallied just eight victories last season.

"Our defense was very good," Stocks said. "We tried to anticipate passes, and I think we did a good job with that...We play hard, we box out and we rebound. We won -- which is a new thing for Faith girls' basketball."

Trinity managed to score the first three points of the game, but that's all the Tigers would get in the first quarter. Faith clamped down defensively, and closed the quarter on a 9-0 run.

The Conquerors harnessed the momentum in the second quarter. Emma Meador -- who drained the game's only three-pointer -- scored seven points in the frame, and helped Faith push its lead to 24-11 by halftime.

Faith played with a double-digit lead for the entire second half. The Conquerors' lead never dipped below 13 points.

The Tigers committed over 20 turnovers and did not score more than eight points in any of the four quarters.

"Chloe (Mills) does a good job putting pressure on the ball," Stocks said. "And we did a really good job of thinking about where the next pass was going to be, and we tried to take the next pass away. That's what we're stressing."

Defensively, the Conquerors are allowing just 25.8 points per game -- 34 is the highest score they've allowed this season.

Mills led Faith with 13 points, while Meador poured in 11. Jordan Lawhon scored seven, and led the team with six rebounds and three assists.

Stocks said his team still needs to grow offensively, including ball-handling skills and moving without the basketball.

But the veteran coach said it's getting better, which is significant considering the starting lineup consists of three sophomores, one junior and a freshman.

Stocks will look for that improvement to continue as the Conquerors reach the tougher part of their schedule.

"Our competition is getting better," Stocks said. "We know that because we play some large schools. But we're more confident than we've ever been. We're not overconfident because (the players) still know they have to work hard.

"And they're willing to work hard."