First Presbyterian Christian Academy opened the 2011-12 basketball season with rival Faith Baptist Christian Academy on Monday night at the St. James Sports Center. Faith Baptist’s J.J. Frazier sank 32 points to lead the visiting Crusaders to an 84-64 victory.
The boys’ game marked the debut of new lineups and coaches for both squads.
First Presbyterian head coach Ernie Walthour Jr. and Faith Baptist head coach Matthew Sellars faced off for the first time to open the season.
First Presbyterian’s Domonique Kirkley opened the game with a 3-pointer. Both teams had drained a pair of 3s in the early minutes of the first quarter. The rivalry between the two teams always has had strong guard play, and this year was no different.
Faith Baptist did not have Jaquez Motley because of an injured wrist, but the Crusaders got 32 points from Frazier, including five 3-pointers. He was 8 of 10 from the free-throw line.
“Tonight was my first win as a head coach and it was a big win for us, especially to win here,” Sellars said of his Crusaders. “We were able to beat them without Motley, and J.J. just put us on his back tonight and was able to carry us.”
The score stayed close through the first half as Faith Baptist carried a 43-36 lead into the locker room.
First Presbyterian’s Herbert Roberts scored first in the third quarter, but the Highlanders could not stop the Crusaders’ attack. Faith Baptist continued to build a double-digit lead during the second half.
The Crusaders (1-0) will host an invitational tournament this weekend.
“This was the first game for us,” Walthour said of his Highlanders. “We are still working on gelling as a team. We had three players transfer from Liberty, one from Bryan County and one from Bradwell, so we are still learning to play together.”
FPCA (0-1) will host Youth ChalleNGe Academy at 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Scoring summary
FBCA 24 19 22 19 — 84
FPCA 19 17 12 18 — 64
FBCA — J.J. Frazier 32, Kirk Hill 23, Keldon McCracy 11, Marc Fowler 7, Devyn Klymshun 4, Samuel Ebewka 2
FPCA — Herbert Roberts 23, Dominque Kirkley 13, D.J. Brancher 8, Ahman Muhammad 8, Frederick Huggins 6, Anthony Campbell 4, Damian Osborne 2