Coach's move wakes up team

By Rob Craig
Published in Sports on January 17, 2007 2:33 PM

• Print
• Email

Faith Christian reserve big man Blake Plummer launched a deep 3-pointer in the final seconds Tuesday night that missed the rim and ricocheted off the backboard.

Plummer ran back down the court with a big smile, gesturing towards the Faith Christian crowd.

It was a fun night for Faith Christian as every Conqueror had plenty to smile about after they shook off a slow start to dominate Berean Baptist of Fayetteville 84-47.

"It doesn't matter the competition, you always have to play at a certain level," said Faith Christian coach Jeff Stocks. "I don't think we had the right mindset at the start."

Despite an early six-point advantage, the Conquerors were far from sharp in the first half.

Their shots were off and they were allowing easy putbacks off of offensive rebounds.

Stocks sat his starters down and sent them a message.

"We talked about playing at a certain level no matter the competition," he said.

Message received loud and clear.

With Faith Christian leading just 28-24 with 3:54 to play in the second quarter, the starters re-entered the game and took over.

Aaron Sladick scored six-straight points sandwiched between 3-pointers from Taylor Stocks to get the Conquerors rolling.

By the time the Bulldogs caught their breath, they had fallen behind 45-26 thanks to a 17-2 Faith Christian run.

"We've got a lot of guys that can shoot the ball well and we just started making shots," said coach Stocks. "We were very unselfish with the basketball and found the open man."

Stocks was doing a little of everything for Faith Christian during the run. He found open post players, came away with steals and blocked a shot all in addition to his long range scoring.

"Taylor loves to pass, and with a point guard, you need someone who would rather pass than shoot," said his coach.

The start of the third quarter was more of the same from the hot shooting Conquerors.

T.J. Sasser hit a trey and Sladick continued his strong inside/outside performance by scoring seven more points, including nailing his third 3-pointer of the game.

"Aaron is so good at all positions," said Stocks. "He can post up. He can shoot outside. He's hard to guard."

It wasn't only shooting for Faith Christian as its man-to-man defense held Berean Baptist without a field goal until a 3-pointer from Jared Smith with 1:42 to go in the quarter. Before the three, the Conquerors had opened up their largest lead of the night following a 21-3 run making the score 66-29.

From there, the rest of the night was full of more smiles from the Faith Christian players, coaches and fans as every player tallied at least four points in helping the Conquerors improved to 14-1 (8-0 in Class 2-A N.C. Christian Schools Association Coastal Region).

Sladick scored a game-high 25 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Sasser added 18 points and Stocks scored eight with four steals.

The Faith Christian Lady Conquerors didn't have the same success shooting the ball as the boys. In fact, they had little go right as they fell to Berean Baptist 33-16.

"We didn't hustle," said coach Eddie Smith. "We seemed dead on our feet tonight. We just didn't have anyone that could hit a shot."

The Conquerors made a paltry four field goals during the game on offense and turned the ball over 29 times.

"I'd give us an "F" in every area of the game tonight," said Smith.

The lone bright spot for Faith Christian (5-7, 3-4) was the play of sophomore Alyssa Hill.

One game following a 21 rebound performance, Hill pulled down 16 rebounds on the night and scored five points.

"Alyssa is coming on as one of our better players," said Smith. "Alyssa works hard. If there was a positive, she was it."

The Conquerors started the evening slow and never could establish anything on the offensive end.

The Bulldog defense held Faith Christian to five first-half points and only one field goal, as they led 16-5.

"Five stinkin' points," said Smith as he walked away from the bench at the end of the half.

In the third quarter, Faith Christian looked to have some life as baskets by Hill and Kristen Maddox cut the lead to 20-11.

The Conquerors though, would score only one more point in the quarter and fell behind 31-12 entering the final period.

Strong defense by Faith Christian did hold the Bulldogs to a single basket in the fourth quarter, but the Conquerors scored only four points to fall well short.

"It was just one of those nights," said Smith. "You can't hit a shot. It was frustrating."

Boys game

Berean Baptist 16 10 9 12 -- 47

Faith Christian 22 23 24 15 -- 84

BEREAN BAPTIST (3-7, 0-5)

Shawn Andrews 7 0 1-1 15, Daniel Brewer 5 0 3-4 13, Greg Adams 0 2 0-0 6, Ben Spivey 2 0 1-2 5, James Brewer 2 0 1-2 5, Jared Smith 0 1 0-0 3. TOTALS -- 16 3 6-9 47.

FAITH CHRISTIAN (14-1, 8-0)

Aaron Sladick 7 3 2-2 25, T.J. Sasser 6 1 3-3 18, Taylor Stocks 1 2 0-0 8, Jeremy Sandlin 3 0 1-2 7, Allen Ray Darby 1 1 2-2 7, Austen Webber 2 0 2-4 6, Brad Floars 1 1 0-0 5, Josh Spencer 2 0 0-0 4, Blake Plummer 2 0 0-0 4. TOTALS -- 25 8 10-13 84.

Girls game

Berean Baptist 8 8 15 2 -- 33

Faith Christian 3 2 7 4 -- 16

BEREAN BAPTIST (4-6, 2-3)

Kirsten Paschal 5 0 0-0 10, Lisa Dundore 3 0 1-2 7, Natasha Bacon 3 0 0-2 6, Veronica Bacon 2 0 0-0 4, Megan Shullman 1 0 0-0 2, Stephanie Colon 0 0 2-2 2, Kaley Andrews 1 0 0-0 2. TOTALS -- 15 0 3-6 33.

FAITH CHRISTIAN (5-7, 3-4)

Alyssa Hill 1 0 3-8 5, Kristen Maddox 1 0 3-8 5, Lindsey Godwin 1 0 0-0 2, Amie Hill 1 0 0-0 2, Madison Caudle 0 0 2-2 2, Renee Provenccal 0 0 0-2 0. TOTALS -- 4 0 6-20 16.