Spencer Bazz Leads #2 Faith Christian in Win Over #5 Colorado Academy

By Matt Langley

www.BasketballColorado.com

1/23/2015

Arvada, CO – Faith Christian Academy’s senior guard Spencer Bazz lead the #2 Eagles over the #5 Colorado Academy Mustangs Friday night at Faith Academy. While Bazz led the Eagles in scoring senior forward Grant Harkness and sophomore point guard Jonathan Hardcastle played a key roles in getting the Eagles their tenth win in a row.

As the game started both teams seemed content in making it a half court game. Neither team tried push the pace of the game. Both teams locked up in half court  man to man defense and on occasion slipped into a zone.  Colorado Academy’s junior guard Justin Bassey scored half  of the Mustangs points in the first quarter but picked up his third foul on a charge call at the end of the quarter. Meanwhile, Faith Christian had trouble settling to a groove that is until Bazz started hitting baskets. The pace of the game wasn’t slow but it was going to be a half court kind of game as the Mustangs led 10-8 at the end of the quarter.

The same half court pace continued through the second quarter as neither team was able to again an advantage on the offensive boards and transition defense limited any fast breaks. With Bassey sitting out the scoring fell to junior point guard Christian Hyatt.  Hyatt was able to get into the middle of the Eagle defense and draw fouls all while scoring six points. The Eagles went on an 11-2 run mid through the quarter thanks to three point baskets by Bazz and Hardcastle. Hardcastle’s second three pointer gave the Eagles a 25-19 lead with less than two minutes to go but the Mustangs scored five points before the end of the half the last two on this out of bounds play.

 

The Eagles lead 25-24 at halftime.

The third quarter belonged to the Eagles both Bazz and this time Harkness led the way.  Harknes dominated the boards and scored six points while Bazz continued impressive night scoring. The duo combined for 12 of the 16 points in the quarter. Colorado Academy however could not get shots to fall making only three field goals in the quarter. Two of those were by big man junior Will Creedon. Creddon showed flashes of improving post player and the ability to convert down low. That would be enough tough for the Mustangs to keep up with the Eagles as they were outscored 16-8 in the quarter and trailed 41-32 after Gabriel Hegarty scored a lay up at the buzzer.

The fourth quarter again the Eagles out scored the Mustangs 16 – 12. This time the Eagles were more methodical spreading their half court offensive sets to give Hardcastle plenty of space for driving lanes and then only taking layups when they presented themselves.  The Mustangs could not get the easy shots to consistently to fall and where unable to secure offensive rebounds. Hyatt was not getting the same calls on drives to the basket that he was in the first half, other couldn’t make shots and Bassey while he did score six points in the quarter seemed out of the picture. Bazz not only scored 26 points in the game, he had the duty to keep up with Bassey on the defensive end floor for most of the game and at times face guarding him. The Eagles built a lead as big as 16 points in the fourth quarter. The Eagles held on 57-44 in the important Metro League game.

Double Figure Scorers

Colorado Academy

Bassey 17

Creedon 14

Hyatt 11

Faith Christian

Bazz 26

Harkness 12 and at least 10 rebs

Hardcastle 11