ARVADA – Going for its first league win at Faith Christian Academy was a tall task for the Jefferson Academy boys basketball team, but after a second quarter blitz the Jaguars went from down 11 to up three.
Then halftime happened. It gave the Eagles a chance to regroup, which was bad news for Jefferson Academy.
“We were hot,” said junior Riley Welsch, who scored 10 points.
Faith Academy scored the first five points of the third quarter and never trailed after that, beating the Jaguars 59-42 on Friday night.
The loss left Jefferson Academy (6-8, 0-4) winless in the 3A Metro League, but not down.
“Our goal right now is to not so much look at scoreboards and records but do what we do best, and the other things correctly as much as possible, then the wins might be down the road,” Jaguars coach Mark Sharpley said.
If there’s a highlight reel Sharpley can use to show his team how to do things well, it’s the second quarter. Jefferson Academy trailed 17-6 in the first 30 seconds of the period but then had the Eagles (8-6, 2-3) on their heels.
Icarus Buckhold started the rally with a 3-pointer to begin a 13-2 run that tied the game at 19 midway through the second.
Faith Christian scored the next two buckets, but two 3-pointers by Elian Soto to end the period gave the Jaguars a 26-23 lead at halftime.
Jefferson Academy took advantage of two Eagles starters picking up three fouls in the first half, forcing them to the bench.
They didn’t sit in the second half. Blair McVicker scored 11 of his 20 points after halftime to help Faith Christian build a big lead.
“We told the guys they would come really, really hard. We needed to stay with the fundamental things we were doing well in the first half,” Sharpley said. “I think we got hurried up because they played so great and our kids thought, ‘Oh, we’ve got to start playing fast.’ Even if we’re not scoring we need to stick with what we do well.”
The Eagles pulled away in the fourth stretching a five-point lead to 17.
“We were up at half but we didn’t play well in the second half,” Welsch said. “It stinks to lose like that but we played well as a team.”
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Faith Christian 59, Jefferson Academy 42
At Faith Bible Chapel
JEFFERSON ACADEMY
Sakwerda-Jeske 5 2-2 12, Welsch 4 1-5 10, I Buckhold 3 0-0 7, Soto 2 0-0 6, Repola 1 2-3 4, Cordutsky 0 2-4 2, Beck 0 1-2 1. Totals 15 8-16 42.
FAITH CHRISTIAN
McVicker 7 5-5 20, Schneider 5 6-10 16, Gardner 3 2-2 8, Hawkins 3 0-0 7, Muehlemeyer 1 2-2 4, I. Kroll 1 22 4. Totals 20 17-21.
Score by quarters:
Jefferson Academy620610—42
Faith Christian1581422—59
3-point field goals — Jefferson Academy (4): Soto 2, Welsch, I. Buckhold ; Faith Christian (2): McVicker, Hawkins. Total fouls — Jefferson Academy 19, Faith Christian 21. Fouled out — Hawkins.
