Link Academy basketball holds off Faith Family Academy at Quincy Shootout
QUINCY, ILLINOIS – The Link Academy basketball team returned to action on Friday at the Quincy Shootout following last weekend’s big win against IMG Academy at the Hoophall Classic in Massachusetts.
It looked like the Lions would roll over Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy early on, but it turned into a game that would test the perseverance and patience of the fifth-ranked squad from Branson, Mo.
Link Academy prevailed, 69-59, over Oak Cliff Faith Family Academy (Dallas, Texas) thanks to its strong start and a stronger finish from senior guard Tre Johnson down the stretch.
“The first quarter and a half we had great intensity defensively, we were playing our style of game, we just couldn’t make a shot,” Link Academy coach Bill Armstrong said. “When you can’t make a shot, sometimes that takes away the intensity, sometimes that gets you to searching and hunting for other shots. It kind of snowballed on us a little bit there. But when we needed to make plays we did.”
Johnson, a University of Texas signee, finished with 20 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter to help the Lions secure the victory. He was named the game’s most valuable player.
Senior power forward James Brown, a University of North Carolina signee, had a happy homecoming to the state of Illinois. The Chicago area native finished with 16 points, including knocking down a late 3-pointer, and outplayed Faith Family’s 6-foot-11 senior center Doryan Onwuchekwa, a Colorado signee who went scoreless.
“I felt good,” said Brown, who transferred from St. Rita High School in Chicago to Link Academy for his senior year. “Whenever I play against somebody my size, my mindset is always to kill – show that I’m the best player on the court, show that I’m the best big on the court at that time. I feel like I was able to separate myself today.”
Junior guard Jasper Johnson added 10 points in the win.
The No. 5 team in the SBLive/Sports Illustrated Power 25 boys basketball rankings, Link Academy (18-4) jumped out to a double-digit advantage quickly and led 20-7 after the first quarter.
The Lions sank four 3-pointers in the opening quarter, with Tre Johnson, Jasper Johnson, senior forward Jalen Shelley (Arkansas signee) and junior guard Andre Igoudala Jr. all knocking down 3’s.
Faith Family Academy was able to trim that deficit to 28-18 at halftime and 45-35 after three quarters to keep the game close.
Senior guard Isaac Williams and junior guard Lamont Hartfield fueled the Eagles’ comeback attempt.
Williams scored a team-high 20 points and Hartfield finished with 19 points and five 3-pointers – all in the second half – after scoring 14 (with four 3’s) in the fourth quarter.
“Uncharacteristic of us, we turned the ball over way too many times,” Armstrong said. “I think we had 20 turnovers and we average about 10 a game. It turned into a sloppy game on both ends and in the end we made enough plays to win. We’ll take it. They are a good team that’s certainly capable of coming in and putting a big number on people. I was pleased with our defense in the first half and we’ll learn some stuff off the second half.”
Brown said the way the team played will force the team to take a look in the mirror, figure out what they did well early on and then what happened the rest of the way.
“It’s easy to have short-term memory in basketball – have a bad game and be able to come back and play tomorrow,” Brown said. “So just being able to come back and have a better mindset, more focus and more hungry and go get a better win tomorrow.”
The Lions will be back in action against The Burlington School (Burlington, North Carolina) at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday as part of a nine-game lineup at the Quincy Shootout.
The Burlington School lost to host Vashon (St. Louis, Mo.) 59-54 on Friday night as part of the Quincy Shootout.
“Typically this year when we’ve had a game like that where we were just kind of sloppy and did some things out of character we’ve figured those things out and played really well the next day,” Armstrong said, “so that’s what we’re hoping for tomorrow.”
Quincy Shootout Day 1
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- Nate Latsch | latsch@scorebooklive.com | @SBLiveMiz
