Wrecked return
- Updated: November 9, 2020
Faith Christian loses an 18-point second-half lead, falls to Cornerstone 56-52 in Schuessler Ware’s return to coaching
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
Everything was setting up to make Schuessler Ware’s return to coaching Monday night a memorable event, the kind of night a high school basketball team could build a season around.
The legendary coach’s new Faith Christian team had just played one of its best quarters in a long time and was leading by 18 late in the third quarter against a team that played in the regional tournament a year ago. Heady times, for sure, but in the end, it set them up for a big fall.
Visiting Cornerstone outscored Faith 24-4 over the final nine minutes of the game and beat the Lions 56-52 to spoil the start of what headmaster Chip Jones called “a new basketball era for us” at the Class 1A school.
It took a toll on the new ol’ coach.
“I’m exhausted,” Ware said. “I know I won’t be asleep tonight.
“I still felt we should have won if they had been patient with the ball, but they never had that kind of pressure thrown on them. I could get upset with them, but they’ve got to learn and that comes with time. We’re going to be OK when I get them all together. I’ll have to work on them listening to direction.”
It’s not the first time the Lions have suffered a loss after a big fourth quarter lead. In January, the Lions led Weaver by 15 with seven minutes left in their County Tournament game and lost 71-58.
Cornerstone’s rally began shortly after Faith’s top returning scorer Ethan Richerzhagen fouled out with 2:38 left in the third quarter. It was a major blow to a Faith team that already was down a man due to COVID-19 quarantine and was still learning to close games.
The Stone scored 16 straight points to get it within 50-48 with 1:55 to play. Thomas Curlee stopped the bleeding with a bucket with 1:44 to left, but it would be the Lions’ final points of the night.
Christian Brown tied it at 52 with 1:28 left, then Javen Hunter scored two layups in the final minute – his only field goals of the game – for the final margin.
From the time of its 50-32 lead to its 56-52 deficit, Faith went 1-for-11 from the floor with eight turnovers. Cornerstone, meanwhile, scored on 11 of 13 possessions, going 9-of-11 from the floor with three fourth-quarter 3-pointers.
“Richerzhagen fouling out really hurt, really hurt,” Ware said. “They had a missing body that they really missed. They relied on him, he’s the leader on the team, and we didn’t have his service. I got kind of worried. I knew we were going to have to be patient and they were impatient. But when you’ve never experienced that before you don’t really know what to do. I guess that’s something that has to grow on you.”
“We just didn’t know how to finish,” Curlee said. “We didn’t react well with the big lead. We got too used to it. We didn’t know how to react when they were getting closer. We’re bummed, but we’re bouncing back. I see a lot of wins in our future.”
The Lions built their big lead on the strength of a 30-point second quarter. The key was, in typical Ware fashion, Faith’s defense. They forced the Eagles into seven turnovers in the quarter, four that fueled a 10-0 run that took them from a 21-19 lead to 31-19 with two minutes left in the half.
Curlee, who left the game for a considerable amount of time earlier in the half after taking a shot in the nose, scored eight of the 10 points and had 13 in the quarter. He finished with 19 points and five rebounds in the game.
“I just came out on fire, I guess,” he said. “After I got hit I said, that’s it. I just wanted to turn it on. I need to help the team.”
The Lions got help from a lot of players when things were going good. They got four points, four assists, five steals and impeccable ball handling from Jacques Prater; nine points and four steals from Nic Goodgame; and 11 points and three rebounds from post Colton Pahman, who was holding his own against thick Cornerstone post Tyler Brown. Richerzhagen had nine points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals before fouling out.
Ware came to Faith four years after retiring as Anniston’s coach. It had been 1,722 days since he last coached a high school basketball game, a two-point loss in the 2016 Northeast Regional finals at Jacksonville State. In his 19 seasons with the Bulldogs, he won 422 games, 15 area championships and two state titles. He won 20 games or more 13 times.
He had found things to do in retirement, but hadn’t been involved in basketball until Jones reached out to gauge his interest in potentially succeeding Justin Kisor, who left for a teaching position at Pell City in December and eventually wound up as the volleyball coach at Fort Payne.
“It’s huge (getting a coach of Ware’s stature),” Jones said. “The kids and the parents have been real excited. It was a real blessing for us and we’re very glad to have him. I guess I didn’t (expect to get him) but it just seemed to be the right man, right place at the right time.”
Which made the way Monday night’s game ended even more disappointing for the Lions.
“We felt like we let him down,” Prater said. “He wanted this game and we wanted this game. It’s really disappointing. We felt like we should have won that game. We wanted to shock a lot of people. First game against Cornerstone, they made it to the region last year and we lost first round in the area, so we just wanted to shock a lot of people and win this game, not only for us but for him.”
Ware also coaches Faith’s girls team, making him one of only three Calhoun County basketball coaches to oversee both varsity programs at their school.
The Lady Lions got off to a real slow start in what formally was Ware’s first game back and they lost 45-31. They trailed 37-17 after three quarters, but staged a small rally in the fourth when they could’ve caved to the margin.
Ariana Arevelo led Faith with 12 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals despite picking up three fouls in the first four minutes of the game. Babat Aremu had nine points, 17 rebounds (10 offensive) and four steals.
To see more photos from the night visit www.bjfranklin.smugmug.com
BOYS GAME
Cornerstone 56, Faith Christian 52
CORNERSTONE (1-0) – Javen Hunter 2 2-5 6, John Conley 0 0-0 0, Christian Brown 4 3-4 13, Johnny Givens 1 0-0 2, Trevon Cotton 4 0-1 11, James Johnson 0 0-0 0, Curtis Hawkins 1 0-0 3, Jayden Laster 0 0-0 0, Devon McKinnon 3 1-2 9, Steven Posey 1 0-1 3, Tyler Brown 4 1-5 9. Totals 20 7-18 56.
FAITH CHRISTIAN (0-1) – Nic Goodgame 4 1-2 9, Jacques Prater 2 0-2 4, Thomas Curlee 6 7-10 19, Ethan Richerzhagen 3 2-2 9, Brodie Dodson 0 0-0 0, Yashua Arevalo 0 0-0 0, Colton Pahman 5 1-2 11. Totals 20 11-18 52.
Cornerstone 10 13 11 22 – 56
Faith Christian 7 30 13 2 – 52
3-point goals: Cornerstone 9 (Brown 2, Cotton 3, Hawkins, McKinnon 2, Posey); Faith Christian 1 (Richerzhagen). Fouled out: Cotton, Richerzhagen. Total fouls: Cornerstone 21, Faith Christian 18. Officials: Douthit, Tillery, Wright
GIRLS GAME
Cornerstone 45, Faith Christian 31
CORNERSTONE (1-0) – Arlyonna Cooper 0 1-2 1, Zoe Pennell 1 0-0 3, Kye Fincher 0 0-0 0, Ariyana Gray 0 0-0 0, Kiya Crayton 6 0-0 15, Tymeera Snow 0 0-0 0. Tomei Fincher 8 0-1 17, Zyaire Walker 0 0-2 0, Kimberly Roscoe 3 2-7 8, Mila Skanes 0 1-2 1, Zakeriah Griffin 0 0-0 0, Rayonna Copelin 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-14 45.
FAITH CHRISTIAN (0-1) – Ona Marple 0 0-1 0, Ariana Arevalo 5 2-8 12, Anna Strautman 0 0-0 0, Serenity Pate 0 0-0 0, Alligrace Emerson 0 0-4 0, Erin McVeigh 0 2-2 2, Megan Ford 4 0-0 8, Babat Aremu 3 3-8 9. Totals 12 7-23 31.
Cornerstone 8 20 9 8 – 45
Faith Christian 5 7 5 14 – 31
3-point goals: Cornerstone 5 (Pennell, Crayton 3, T. Fincher). Total fouls: Cornerstone 15, Faith Christian 13. Officials: Askew, Tillery, Elston.
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