Anniston, AL – Class 1A Faith Christian boys shock Class 4A No. 2 White Plains with big first half, hold off Wildcats’ comeback for shocker to end regular season.
By Joe Medley
Corey Hughes threw his third Faith Christian boys’ team to the lions early this season.
Plainview, Gulf Shores, White Plains, Jacksonville, and that’s only a partial list of the higher classified teams the Lions play. It seemed Hughes would spare his team no beating.
Welp.
“It took us 29 games, but we’re here,” a triumphant Hughes said Friday night.
Conner Richerzhagen led three Lions in double figures with 22 points, and Faith, and unranked Class 1A team, stunned Class 4A No. 2 White Plains on Friday.
The Lions (14-16) upended White Plains’ senior night on a night that saw the Wildcats honor eight seniors.
Faith made nine 3-pointers while building a 35-27 halftime lead, led 48-36 after three and got midway through the fourth quarter before Paul Laube hit a 3-pointer from the corner to cut the lead back under double digits, 55-47.
That touched off a white Plains comeback that brought the Wildcats within 61-60 and a timeout with 22.2 seconds left.
Richerzhagen hit two free throws at 21.5 to make it 63-60, and White Plains worked a patient possession, finding senior Dylan Barksdale open for an uncontested three from the corner in front of White Plains’ bench.
The ball caromed off, and Parker Robertson hit one of two free throws at 4.5 seconds to provide the final margin.
The victory touched off a wild celebration on Faith’s half of the court, with Richerzhagen slapping hands and bumping chests with whomever in green he could find.
“It means everything,” he said. “Last game of the season, going into area, it doesn’t get any better.
“Beating the second-best team in 4A? Going into area? I think we feel confident.”
Faith’s Colton Reese added 15 points, and Carson Harris scored 14 to give Faith just enough to get out with a victory.
As for White Plains, Laube led the way with 12 points, and Barksdale added 11.
Veteran White Plains coach Chris Randall credited Faith.
“Every clean look they got, they buried it,” he said. “They played hungry. Man, they played with enthusiasm.
“You have to give them all of the credit. They took the fight to us, and we just started too late. I think we kind of got frustrated, and it showed. When the shots weren’t falling, it affected or defense.”
White Plains concluded the regular season at 22-9. The Wildcats will play host to the Class 4A, Area 10 tournament starting Monday, opening against Cherokee County.
Early beatings from a who’s-who schedule partly explains Faith’s 14-16 mark headed into the Class 1A, Area 8 tourney at Winterboro. The Lions will play Wadley on Monday.
The Lions will see nothing they haven’t seen and, at long last, beaten.
“It’s just a change of pace,” Harris said. “Higher class, they play so much quicker than the lower class, and we’ve played so many games against bigger schools like Piedmont and Oxford in preseason, and it just got us used to it.
“I feel like we can play with anybody.”
Hughes, who led his first two Faith teams to the Northeast Regional, hopes the Lions now see what he saw in December, when he said this team had the most “upside” of any of his Faith teams.
“It means exactly what we knew all year,” Hughes said. “It’s a Birmingham type of team. If we keep this momentum and energy and play with the detail oriented mindset like we did tonight, we can go anywhere.”
