Faith Lutheran recovers in time, defeats Western

Faith Lutheran's girls basketball team spent much of the second and third quarters Tuesday hurrying shots and watching its double-digit lead evaporate.

The Crusaders righted the ship in the fourth quarter.

Sam Caruth scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, and the Crusaders went 6-for-7 from the field in the final eight minutes to pull out a 60-45 win over visiting Western.

"Our girls lacked a little energy after the start of the game, and Western took advantage of it," said Faith Lutheran coach Jennifer Karner, whose team pulled even in the loss column with Western for second place in the Sunset League. "But they reminded themselves how important these conference games are. They found a way to come out with a win."

Faith Lutheran started strong, building an 18-4 lead seven minutes into the game, but got too anxious in the middle quarters and rushed shots.

The Crusaders (15-7, 7-3 Sunset) made just 7 of 31 shots from the field, including 1 of 11 3-pointers, in the second and third quarters, allowing Western to rally for a 36-35 lead.

"They were surprised they were so open, so they were taking some shots and maybe they weren't the best choices," Karner said.

Madison Bocobo's 3-pointer from the right wing 36 seconds into the fourth quarter put Faith Lutheran ahead to stay, and the Crusaders were more patient in their attack, taking higher percentage shots and even sticking back their only missed field goal of the quarter.

After the Crusaders opened a 45-38 lead, Western (14-10, 8-3) fought back to within 47-45 on Heather Gonzalez's jumper off an inbound play with 2:58 to go.

But Caruth's 3-pointer just to the right of the top of the key with 2:38 left and her pull-up jumper 33 seconds later built the lead to 52-45 and dashed the Warriors' hopes.

Caruth was 3-for-3 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter. She finished with 27 points and 11 rebounds.

"She had ice in her veins," Karner said. "She loves to score. She loves to do it for her teammates. She stepped up when we needed it."

Bocobo added 12 points for Faith Lutheran, which split the season series with Western and would get the league's No. 2 seed for the playoffs if it wins out and Western loses to league-leading Spring Valley next week.

"One game at a time," Karner said. "Every conference game is important."

Destiny Gonzalez paced Western with 21 points and 17 rebounds.

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.