Coupling their usually stifling defense with a rare offensive explosion, the Faith Bible Falcons cruised to their fifth straight win to start the season.

After a week off and two games cancelled due to winter weather, the Falcons stormed to an 18-4 first quarter lead and cruised to a 59-31 victory over Westside Christian at Forest Hills Lutheran School Monday night.

The Falcons are now 5-0 and ranked #3 in 2A by OSAA.

The visiting Eagles had no answer for Faith Bible’s twin towers, juniors Katie and Sarah Fajer, who combined for 49 of the Falcons’ 59 points and pulled down 21 rebounds and had six steals between them.

Westside Christian’s only lead came before the opening tip, when junior guard Lexi Rodriguez hit a pair of free throws after Faith Bible was assessed an administrative technical foul. The Eagles promptly turned the ball over on their first possession, leading to the first of what would be many inside baskets by the Faber twins.

The Falcons led 20-6 after one quarter following a buzzer-beating lay-in by Katie Fajer. Fajer and her identical twin Sarah, who transferred to Faith Bible from Glencoe High School, are 6-1 post players with mirror-image games. One is right-handed and the other a lefty. Both have long-arms to create mayhem in Faith Bible’s 1-3-1 zone defense. Both have soft hands to make catches in traffic in the lane and finish near the basket. Both run the floor on the break and one often sets up the other with a steal or block followed by an outlet pass.

Katie scored 14 of her game-high 27 points in the first period, connecting on 7 of 9 shots from the field and both free throw attempts. Sarah did most of her damage in the second half, connecting on three traditional 3-point plays in the third quarter on the way to 22 points. The Falcons shot 63% from the field through the first three quarters before cooling off in the final period, clearing the bench after taking a 52-24 lead into the final eight minutes.

Despite the Faber’s length inside, the Eagles had a big edge on the offensive glass, outboarding the Falcons 24-9, but shot 27% from the field in the game. The Fabers combined for seven of the Falcons’ nine blocked shots.

Senior guard Annalise Lau led Westside Christian with nine points. Senior post Alannah Carr added eight points and eight rebounds with five steals.

Jessica Irving, another six-footer that plays point guard, dished out six assists and had four rebounds and four steals for Faith Bible, which hosts Gaston Saturday in a Northwest League game before taking part in the Riverdale Tournament next week.

Westside Christian entertains Toledo in a non-league game Friday before playing in a three-day tournament at Corban University in Salem next week. 

-Matt Richard (KUIK AM)