The Faith Bible Falcons earned the season sweep over Gaston, winning both the girls and boys varsity games Thursday night at Forest Hills Lutheran School.
The Falcons girls used an effective 1-3-1 zone defense to hold their sixth consecutive opponent under 30 points, defeating the Greyhounds 29-18. The Falcons boys followed with a 53-39 win over Gaston, improving to 9-0 on the season when holding an opponent under 40 points.
In the first game of the night, Gaston’s girls ran out to a 7-2 lead just three minutes into the game, but would score just two more points for the rest of the half. Faith Bible (8-2 NWL, 13-6 overall) pulled in front on a basket by point guard Jordan Cleary with 5:43 to go in the first half and closed out a 13-2 run with a Megan Dutro three-pointer with 8 seconds to go, heading into halftime with a 15-9 lead.
The Greyhounds (3-7, 5-14) scored to open the second half, but the Falcons ran off the next ten points and would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the way. After holding Gaston scoreless for over a quarter in the first half, the Falcons nearly did it again…twice. After Julia Clark’s basket to open the half, over 6:30 elapsed before the sophomore guard hit a free throw to make it 23-12 Faith Bible. Carmen Aranda, the only senior on Gaston’s roster, scored on a rebound putback with 29 seconds left in the quarter and Gaston would not score again until both teams had cleared their benches in the final two minutes of the game.
Malia Masters had 10 points, 10 rebounds and four steals for Faith Bible and Cleary added eight points and seven steals. Faith Bible did not make a substitution until the 2:34 mark of the third quarter and only the five starters scored.
Gaston’s leading scorer was junior wing Amber Becker with five points. The Greyhounds shot 24-percent from the field (8-34) and had more turnovers (25) than points. The Falcons shot 31-percent (11-36) and had 23 turnovers.
In the boys game, Gaston (1-10, 2-15) had only two leads, but hung around to make it a four quarter game despite turning the ball over 28 times. Faith Bible (5-6, 9-10) took a 32-20 lead on a Corbin Helms basket early in the third quarter, but the Greyhounds responded with six straight points and pulled within 37-33 when freshman point guard Tristan Lund scored to open the fourth quarter. The Hounds had two chances to get the lead down to a single possession, but could not score. Faith Bible finally put the game away in the final minute when senior point guard Nick Morae-Alvarado set up Corbin Helms with a beautiful dish inside, then stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast for a layup.
Morae-Alvarado had a standout night, scoring 19 points with 10 rebounds and six steals. Tanner Flemming added 11 and Helms finished with 10 points. Ian Mann finished with 14 points for the Greyhounds, who lost their 12th consecutive game. Faith Bible ended a three-game losing streak and stayed alive for a postseason berth in the NWL, pulling within 1.5 games of fifth place Nestucca with five games left in the season.
HTTP://WWW.KUIK.COM/SPORTS/NWL-BASKETBALL-FALCONS-SWEEP-HOUNDS-WITH-SUFFOCATING-D/
