Faith Puts on a Show at Annual Christmas Classic

By Jon Crossman

ANKENY, Iowa – This time of year is known as a time of giving, and the lady Eagles didn't hold back in giving us a show over the weekend with the Faith Christmas Classic. Complete with a thrilling overtime win to start the tourney and an exciting rematch against Maranatha University, Faith had lots of healthy competition to go around before packing up and heading home for the holidays.

The Eagles started the season out with an eight-point loss to Trinity, and with their first game of the tournament they had their chance to get even with the visiting Lions. The game was intense straight from the tipoff, with each team wrestling for the lead with a total of 11 different lead changes throughout the course of the game. Trinity's Grace West saved the game temporarily by making a 3 in the final minute, putting them up 67-65, but Colorado's finest, Mary Yarnell, stepped up to the free throw line for the Eagles to send the game into overtime. From there, the Trinity defense started handing out fouls they couldn't afford to give, allowing Donnecia King to turn her and-one play into a scoring lead that the Eagles took and never looked back on. Faith had almost perfect shooting in overtime, with 100% from long range in 3's and 5-7 at the foul line, ending the game 85-75.

Rachel Kleczka dominated the key with her sixth double-double of the year, becoming a walking bucket and dropping 31 points to account for over a third of the teams' overall points. Alicia Smith had herself a game too, shooting 3-5 from the three-point line and contributing 15 points of her own.

Coming off the adrenaline-filled energy of the overtime win, the ladies were ready to overcome their classic Midwest rival in Maranatha, a team they had also fallen to previously in the season. Play started in favor of the Sabercats and stayed that way the whole game with the Eagles never getting the chance to hold the lead. The competition was narrow up until halftime, with each team going into the break with similar shooting (no 3's and less than 25% shooting) and a 22-25 score. Faith was outscored 57-21 in the second half of what earlier was a white-knuckle event. Maranatha found their rhythm with shooting (43.7% shooting in 3's) while the Eagles struggled with inside shooting, making only 33% of the taken jumpers. Faith ended the game with their lowest shooting of the season (29.3%) in the 82-43 loss to Maranatha.

Despite the loss, the final game of the tournament still showed some good results in player improvement with rookie Donnecia King leading the charge with 16 points and 12 rebounds--a career-high for her in both areas. Her continued improvement will be an important factor the remainder of the season, along with the big presence off the bench from Mary Yarnell, also putting up six points and a respectable nine rebounds.

The Eagles will take a short hiatus before returning to play Barclay College on January 8 on the road.