After falling behind 15-0, Faith Christian Academy made a furious rally, cutting St. Laurence's lead to 22-20 before St. Laurence held on for a 32-24 victory. The game was in the first round of the St. John Lutheran 7th- and 8th-grade invitational tournament Friday night in Elgin.
The Falcons continue tournament play at 9:30 a.m. Saturday against the loser of Westminster Christian and St. John Lutheran. A win advances FCA to the consolation finals at 1:45 p.m., while a loss sends Faith to the seventh-place game at 12:45 p.m.
Trailing 15-0 in the second quarter, the Falcons went on a 9-0 run started by a free throw from Brooke Hermes and capped by a layup from Jessica Smith and two baskets in the lane by Samantha Nosewicz to cut the deficit to 15-9. St. Laurence led 18-9 at halftime, but Faith outscored St. Laurence 11-4 to start the third quarter, creeping within 22-20 on free throws by Anneliese Lockner. St. Laurence regained control from there, but the Falcons did a lot of good things in their first game of the 2014 season. They hope to build on those positives in their last two tournament games.
Brooke earned the best attitude award for her hard-nosed play, which included three steals. Jessica won the hustle award after an energetic performance at point guard. Anneliese paced Faith's offense with 10 points. Jessica added 5, Grace Hansen and Samantha had 4 apiece, and Brooke rounded out the scoring with a free throw.
