Faith Out-Conquers the Conquerors With Improved Shooting

By Jon Crossman

ANKENY, Iowa – Topping out an eventful weekend of a high school tournament the school hosted, the Faith ladies took the court Friday night to play the visiting Conquerors of Free Lutheran Bible College. Coming off a disappointing team loss earlier in the week, the Eagles were determined to show their resiliency. A dominant first half and greatly improved shooting launched the Eagles into a much smoother game, putting them back in the win column.

Play looked pretty even in the first portion of the game, with each team leaving a mark on the other through several shooting fouls and aggressive drives to leave Faith up 16-9 after the first quarter. FLBC continued to trail into the second half, gaining some ground with an improved 31.3% on their second quarter field goals, but going 0-5 on free throws and missing the mark compared to the Eagles 6-13 from the line. Makenna Laib took charge against the compact Conquerors defense, using her acrobatic abilities and speed to dart through players and potential blocks for the majority of the first half points (9) and provide stellar court-vision to get the right plays accomplished. The half finished out with a made free throw from Mary Yarnell, and Faith went to the locker room up 35-20 for the halftime interlude.

The team learned a valuable lesson from their last game against Kansas Christian, the lesson of keeping the pressure on no matter how big the lead, and they didn't park the bus this time around against the Conquerors. Faith's offense combined for a flattening 37 points in the final half, staying consistent with their first half gameplay and matching the intensity of their opening incursion into the opposing half of the court. Rachel Kleczka carried out her normal duties as a defensive giant on both ends, pulling down seven rebounds in the latter half of the game and smothering any flame the Conqueror's sharpshooters tried to ignite in the key. The Eagles flipped the script in terms of ballhandling for the season, forcing their opponents to give up 35 turnovers and racking up almost half of the total points (33) in plays formed from TO's. A selfless team performance (16 assists total) brought home the win for the ladies, 72-45.

Game leaders were Sarah Iler with 20 points, followed by Makenna Laib, Rachel Kleczka, and Donnecia King with 9 points apiece. King and Alicia Smith played smart with 6 steals each, and Kleczka maintained her controlling rule over the rims with 14 rebounds.

The Eagles start their next packed week of games against Emmaus Bible College on February 1^st, at 4:00 p.m.