JUDA — Despite a 38-38 tie six minutes into the second half, Juda fell to Faith Christian 76-61 in a nonconference game Monday, Dec. 16. Fouls became a problem for the Panthers late in the second half, as they committed 11 fouls in the final four minutes that led to 16 made Eagle free throws.
It was apparent from the beginning that the referees weren’t going to let the players get away with anything. After Faith Christian jumped out to a 5-0 lead and Jayden Brown responded with a bucket, there were seven total fouls called in the next three minutes. Juda’s Braydon Steinmann and Faith Christian’s Dylan Johnson were in foul trouble early, both picking up their second infractions.
The Eagles’ lead hovered around nine points, but the Panthers always had a response to prevent it from reaching double digits. After a 3-pointer from Logan Rothfuchs, Blake Adkins had an offensive putback and went to the line for a free throw. When Isaac Bartz scored off an out-of-bounds play to make it 16-7, Brown scored on an offensive rebound.
Juda had the chance to chip away once again, as Diesel Ostby went to the charity stripe for bonus, but he missed the shot. On the rebound, Jayse Pudwill fouled Jack DeBoer, sending Faith Christian to the line for bonus. There, DeBoer made both shots for a 20-9 lead — finally reaching a double-digit advantage.
The Eagles extended their lead to 18 points with an 8-0 run, but their defensive miscues allowed the Panthers back in the game.
For two straight possessions, Adkins was left wide open for uncontested 3-pointers that he swished. The second prompted a timeout from head coach Brian Pollard, who urged his team to return to the basics and pick up a man.
Juda kept its scoring run alive, as Steinmann made a double bonus free throw. Easton Hess then intercepted a pass and took it back for a layup. Even though Hess missed, Steinmann trailed and was able to grab the rebound and put it back for two.
The 9-point run brought Juda’s deficit to single digits again headed into the locker room trailing 31-22.
The Panthers carried that momentum into the second half, where they came out on a 10-2 run. Brown scored the first six points, followed by free throws from Steinmann and a bucket and steal from Adkins.
Juda finally knotted the game at 38 as Steinmann grabbed a defensive rebound and made a full-court pass to Treston Gobeli, who had dropped back on offense already, for a wide-open layup. Owen McLeod quickly gave his team the lead again but was T-ed up for a comment at the refs.
The Panthers had the opportunity to capitalize on that moment — and the subsequent pair of fouls on Faith Christian that put Juda into bonus — but they went just 1-for-3 from the free-throw line. While Juda’s offense went cold, Faith Christian’s went on a 12-3 run to pad its lead back to double-digits at 53-42.
Three minutes after Juda reached bonus, Faith Christian did too. Adkins picked up his second foul attempting to grab a rebound from Rothfuch’s missed free throw, immediately putting the Eagles back to the charity stripe.
Much of the final six minutes was played at the free-throw line as the Panthers committed 13 fouls with three athletes fouling out. The aggressive style of play allowed the Eagles to pull away, going 20-for-26 from the charity stripe in the final stretch.
Juda played Parkview the following day and lost 81-65.
