If you had to convince someone of how important youth sports are you would only have to show them film of last night's matchup between Mannahouse Christian Academy and Faith Bible. There was no rocking crowd, no athletes throwing down dunks, or perfect play; it was just high school kids giving everything that they have on the court and learning life lessons while doing so.
Faith Bible and Mannahouse came into the game tied in league at 10-3 overall records and 4-1 records in league play. The winner would walk away as the second-place team and the loser would be third. With the crowded field that makes up the middle of the Northwest League, every win is important.
Mannahouse has not played a game since December 21st and has had issues with COVID. Since the Christmas break, Mannahouse had a record of 2-2 after a 9-1 start to the season. Faith Bible came in as winners of 7 out of their last 8 games with the only loss coming to Coaches' Poll #2 Knappa. Both teams were unranked in the Coaches' Poll.
The game lived up to its potential and then some. The entire game was a close and physical affair. Emotions ran high for both teams. "When Landon went down, emotions started to get the better of us," Faith Bible coach Brent Masterson said referencing senior guard Landon Young who left the game with 7:30 remaining in the first quarter with a lower-leg injury.
While the game was physical, there did not appear to be any malice between the teams. The referees let the teams play with limited interruption. Both coaches did their best to focus their players and reduce the physicality, but the players knew what was at stake and were giving it everything they had. It seemed like every possession ended with two or three players on the floor hustling for the ball.
The entire game was back and forth affair. Faith Bible did their best to coral Mannahouse captain Devin Johnson, but Johnson managed to still score 9 points and distribute to his teammates. All the focus on Johnson allowed six other Mannahouse players to score 4 or more points each. The biggest beneficiary was Chisom Okafor who hauled in 13 rebounds and led Mannahouse with 15 points, most coming off of dishes or offensive rebounds.
The game came down to the wire and with under 2 minutes to go, Mannahouse lead 55-47, but Faith Bible fought until the bitter end. A clutch 3-point shot by freshman Zeke Cask brought Faith Bible within 5 points. After a missed 1-and-1 opportunity by Mannahouse, Faith Bible drove down and scored again bringing the score to 55-52 in favor Mannahouse. Mannahouse turned the ball over again and it looked like Faith Bible was going to tie the game. With 13 seconds left, Faith Bible launched a shot to tie the game, but the shot went wide. Senior Captain Matthew Fachiol secured a rebound, but the next shot also missed. In the scramble for the rebound, Faith Bible traveled and gave the ball back to Mannahouse. Faith Bible fouled on the inbounds pass and sophomore Jaydon Hall iced the game for Mannahouse by making both free throws with 3 seconds remaining.
Despite the heroic effort by Faith Bible, Mannahouse emerged victorious 57-52 earning themselves the second place position in league. Games like these are extremely emotional, but teach valuable lessons. Freshmen stepped up to a stage bigger than expected, both teams had to fight through injuries and mistakes, and they did all of that while still having school and personal stresses to manage. While Mannahouse walked away elated and Faith Bible left dejected, players from both teams got stronger as people, which is the goal of sports: to teach life lessons in a safe and fun learning environment.
"We're a young team, so we practice end game scenarios to get the younger players the experience they need," Johnson said after the game. "Once we got out of our own heads then we were good," he continued, describing his team's execution down the stretch. Mannahouse coach Ryan Bjornsgard gave credit to Faith Bible, "They're a really improved team." When asked how his team is faring after not playing a home game in nearly a month Bjornsgard answered that, "we [the coaching staff] emphasize that we are a better team on the road. There are less distractions." Bjornsgard described the game as "a good win" for his team.
Mannahouse has one more road game at Vernonia Thursday before they play 1A Perrydale, who is ranked #9 in the Coaches' Poll, on Saturday at home. Bjornsgard hopes to keep his inexperienced team focused this week as no one can "take a night off" in the Northwest League.
According to Faith Bible Coach Masterson, his team took the time immediately after the game to talk about life more than basketball. "We need to wrap our heads around the emotions," Masterson said. "You never want a loss, but we [Faith Bible] needed to see that we can't take it easy." He applauded his team's fight and the play of freshmen Ezekiel Cook and Markus Jackson who played extended minutes to help cover for the injured Young, "They never gave up and it is invaluable to have two freshmen able to play as they [Cook and Jackson] did."
Faith Bible plays Gaston at home on Thursday and then on the road at Columbia Christian, who has won their last two league games. on Friday. Young is expected to be back when Faith Bible faces Columbia. Faith Bible also announced that all proceeds from the Gaston game will be donated to help with those affected by the Tonga volcanic eruption.
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