Silverdale’s Magical Run Ends With Final Four Loss To FACS

BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR)

COOKEVILLE, Tenn.  – The 2023-2024 Seahawks were going to end their historic season at the Hooper-Eblen Center on the campus of Tennessee Tech University, but it was a day earlier than anyone in green and gold wanted. First Assembly Christian School, out of Cordova, survived a strong first quarter from SBA and came away with a 66-59 win in the BlueCross Division II (Class A) Basketball Final Four.

The Seahawks came out firing away in the first quarter, connecting on 5 of 6 three-pointers (2 each coming from Brett Wright and Judah Richardson along with 1 from Elyjah Richardson) and 55.6% from the field on the way to a 17-13 lead at the end of the first 8 minutes.

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The Crusaders from FACS fought fire with fire of their own in the second quarter, shooting 80% from the field (8/10) and 60% from the three-point line (3/5), outscoring Silverdale 19-8 in the period and taking a 32-25 lead to the locker room. A key in the first half for FACS that would be a determining factor later in the game was the rebounding battle. The Crusaders held a narrow edge in rebounds in the first quarter 8-6, then hit the glass for a 7-3 margin over the Seahawks (7 of those 15 first half rebounds were offensive rebounds).

The third quarter was nearly even, with Silverdale getting within 4 points at 41-37 after a Wright layup with 2:02 left on the clock. But the Crusaders would score 6 of the final 7 points in the quarter, including a Martechio Hayes put back at the buzzer to give FACS their biggest lead of the night to that point 47-38 going into the fourth quarter. That basket came after 2 of the Crusaders’ 7 offensive rebounds in the quarter (10 total).

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The fourth quarter for FACS was nearly perfect, going 6/7 from the field (85.7%) and 2/3 from behind the arc (66.7%).

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Silverdale cut the Crusaders’ lead down to 5 on two different occasions in the final quarter, but the duo of Hayes and Jacob Walker combined for 13 of FACS’ 19 fourth quarter points to put the game out of reach.

Hayes would lead all scorers with 23 points and bring down a game-high 8 rebounds. Kennedy Okpara led the Seahawks in scoring and rebounds with 19 points and 7 boards. Wright (17) and Elyjah Richardson (11) also scored in double figures for Silverdale.

Silverdale finishes the season with a record of 30-4, which is new school record for the most wins in school history. First Assembly Christian School (26-3) moves on to the Division II (Class A) championship game Saturday night at 7:30pm (eastern) to take on Providence Christian.

Follow Jeff on “X” @TheJeffCate