‘Underdog’ Jackets survive
- Updated: January 17, 2023
Faith Christian gives Oxford all it can handle, but second-seeded Yellow Jackets have enough to push through to the semifinals
CALHOUN COUNTY TOURNAMENT
(At Jacksonville State)
Tuesday’s Boys Games
No. 2 Oxford 55, No. 7 Faith Christian 49
No. 1 Jacksonville 86, No. 8 Saks 39
Wednesday’s Boys Games
No. 3 Alexandria vs. No. 6 White Plains, 4:30 p.m.
No. 4 Anniston vs. No. 5 Piedmont, 7:30 p.m.
By Al Muskewitz
East Alabama Sports Today
JACKSONVILLE – Oxford may have come into the Calhoun County Tournament as the No. 2 seed, but the Yellow Jackets can’t help feeling like they’re the underdogs.
It certainly seemed that way Tuesday night. Nobody likes the biggest kid in the playground and the crowd in Pete Mathews Coliseum was pulling for the other guys, but the Jackets overcame that and the gutsy effort put forth by 1A Faith Christian to win 55-49 in the quarterfinals.
They will play the winner of Wednesday’s Alexandria-White Plains game in Thursday’s 4:30 p.m. semifinal, but it took every ounce of their being to make it.
“Coach (Joel Van Meter) talks about it every single day: Preparation is the key to a win,” Jackets guard T.J. Allen said. “We came in, our mindset was, everybody thinks it’s Faith, it’s 1A, but it’s really who wants it more.
“They came out on top. We came out on top (of the score), too, don’t get me wrong, but we started getting in a slump, they started scoring, the crowd was going wild. Coach Van talked to us in the huddle – we got chewed out at halftime – and said I want y’all to flip this game around. We came in and showed them what we had to do.”
The longer the Lions stayed in it, the louder the crowd became in its support for them. It could be quite unnerving for a team that has had only two players experience this atmosphere before. Van Meter agreed it was the hardest he’s coached against a Class 1A team not named Sacred Heart, which he said was the “utmost compliment” to the way the Lions played.
“I think it puts a ton of pressure on your players,” Van Meter said. “You know me, I’m coaching every game the same, but I think your players feel that more than anybody. Cory’s guys did a great job of never letting us off the hook. They never gave in. They always made that one shot and give them credit for that.”
Faith coach Cory Hughes could feel the support “one hundred percent.”
“Everybody always roots for the underdog,” he said. “It was most noticeable in the fourth quarter when we were trying to get a foul shot, they threw it to (Jayden Lewis) and he jumped and got his eyes above the rim and threw the ball through and it was just quiet. It was kind of like ‘is anybody there.’ It was a nice feeling, yeah.”
The Jackets took the lead for good on Lewis’ dunk midway through the first quarter, but it never quite felt safe. Every time they looked to be in position to put it away, they relaxed and Faith worked its way back in the game. Van Meter implored them to demand more of themselves in the second half.
They went up nine midway through the third quarter, but the Lions brought it back to within three with 1:46 left.
Then Allen stepped to the line – the 3-point line – and buried a pair of 3s that gave them enough cushion to survive.
His first in the exchange came from deep in the right corner with 45 seconds left in the third quarter to push the lead back to six. The second came from even longer range, from outside the right bend in the arc, with 6:11 left in the game and put the Jackets up 49-38.
“(No.) 3 got hot,” Hughes said. “I told our guys let 3 shoot. We want to get in his head, just let him have shots, and he knocked them down. So kudos to him. He just started burying shots.”
The result proved it was not a smart strategy. Allen’s range is whatever area code he’s playing in and he showed it with four 3s that all came at crucial times, either giving Oxford a lead or squelching a Faith threat.
“I’ll shoot it from anywhere; I’ve got the confidence,” he said. “He knows I can shoot, I’ve showed in practice, so he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care if I make them, if I miss them, he just wants me to shoot them. A shooter’s got to shoot.
“Those two were big. We needed those. We were going down in a slump, they were getting the crowd, they were making shots, we weren’t making anything, so I had to step up with my confidence and stuff to make those shots.”
Allen led the Jackets with 21 points with four 3-pointers. Lewis had 17.
The Lions made it interesting late with Yoshi Arevalo burying a pair of 3s and then hitting a free throw with 23.4 seconds left to make it a six-point game.
Thomas Curlee led Faith with 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting and nine rebounds. Conner Richerzhagen had 11 with three 3s. Arevalo had seven, all in the fourth quarter.
“Just super proud of our guys,” Hughes said. “Love their effort right now, love the cohesion they’re playing with after last weekend. Just a ton of chemistry. We’re back to the team I thought we could be at the beginning of the year. No reason for us not to make a deep, deep, deep (run) into the postseason.”
FAITH CHRISTIAN – Conner Richerzhagen 3-9 2-2 11, Tyler Bell 0-5 0-2 0, Carson Limbaugh 0 0-0 0, Will Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Parker Robertson 1-2 0-0 2, Yoshua Arevalo 2-7 1-3 7, Thomas Curlee 10-21 1-1 25, Eli Robinson 0-3 0-0 0, Carson Harris 2-8 0-2 4, Kolton Eubanks 0 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 4-10 49.
OXFORD – Jaylen Alexander 1 4-4 6, Caleb Sanders 0 0-1 0, Dashaun Calloway 0 0-0 0, T.J. Allen 6 5-6 21, Chase Truitt 0 0-0 0, Jordan Kelley 0 0-0 0, Brock Reaves 3 0-1 6, Jayden Lewis 7 3-7 17, Ty Calhoun 0 0-0 0, Marcus Perry 0 0-0 0, Cristian Gibson 2 1-2 5. Totals 19-40 13-20 55.
Faith Christian 11 14 13 11 – 49
Oxford 16 14 14 11 – 55
3-point goals: Faith 9-26 (Richerzhagen 3-8, Arevalo 2-5, Curlee 4-8, Harris 0-1, Robertson 0-1, Bell 0-3); Oxford 4-14 (Allen 4). Total fouls: Faith Christian 19, Oxford 17.
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