Faith presses issue

Using a full-court press to build a huge lead in the first half Friday night, the Faith Christian High girls basketball team routed visiting Lutheran (Elk Grove) in a Sacramento Metropolitan Athletic League contest, 64-32, in the first game of a doubleheader during the Lions' homecoming.

"We just started doing it," Faith coach Kathleen Trimble said of the press. "We brought it out for the second half of league."

The full-court pressure forced the Panthers (0-12, 0-5) to turn the ball over 26 times in the first half, allowing Faith (11-6, 4-2) to jump out to a 32-11 lead at intermission.

Kayla Trimble and Katie Demeritt each had four steals in the first half, as the Lions came up with 18 before the break. Adelaide Baber and Stephanie Sluder each had three steals.

The Lions backed off the press in the second half, but it didn't stop Faith from extending its lead. Behind Demeritt's eight points, the Lions outscored the Panthers, 16-3, in the third quarter to lead 48-14 heading into the final stanza.

With Faith's reserves in the game, Lutheran went on a 12-0 run midway through the period to make the game a little more respectable, 52-28, but it was too little too late.

Sluder led three Lions in double-figure scoring with 18, followed by Demeritt with 16 and Kayla Trimble with 15. Trimble had a big night with 14 rebounds to lead the team, and she had six steals.

"We have a real good defense," coach Trimble said, citing the 24 steals the Lions came up with for the game. "The defense helped control our offense as we were able to get the quick basket off the steal or their turnover."

Faith also completely controlled the boards. The Lions finished with a 63-25 rebounding edge, grabbing 35 at the offensive end alone.

The offensive boards gave Faith a lot of second and third chances. The Lions ended up taking 89 shots in the game, hitting 27 of them.

When the Panthers weren't turning the ball over they were missing a slew of shots. Lutheran finished the game hitting just 12-of-45 shots.

Trimble also liked she got contributions from everyone.

"We wanted everybody to score tonight," Trimble said.

All eight Lions who suited up scored and grabbed at least one rebound.