Faith Christian rolls past Berks Christian in PIAA Class A opener

DOYLESTOWN >> Faith Christian Academy’s march through states began with a highlight reel, as the Lions showed off several sleek moves to the basket all the while getting down to the business of playing rock-solid defense, cruising to an 80-34 victory over Berks Christian in the opening round of the PIAA-A Tournament.

“The game plan was to come out and play Faith basketball like we always do, strive on defense and get stops, convert and execute,” said Charles Ervin, who supplied a heavy dose of that defensive tenacity along with 14 points.

The victory advanced Faith (27-2) to the second round on Tuesday and a matchup with Millville, a 59-40 winner over Lincoln Leadership.

The Lions had 11 different players score in Friday’s state opener at Central Bucks West. Sawyer Smith had a dunk to begin the second half and Owen Bradford had the game high with 15 points.

Faith blew out to a 41-13 lead by the break. Turnovers sparked several fast breaks for the Lions.

“When we play defense, we just work with each other and build energy off each other,” Ervin said. “We normally get steals, get transition, and we normally turn teams over.”

Faith smothered the Berks Lions (25-9) from the start, the game eventually going to a running clock in the second half.

“Most of our starting five are seniors and we don’t want to go home,” Ervin said of the intensity the Lions brought to CB West. “This past week of practice was intense. Really I lose more legs in practice than in games because the drills we do are college like. We work hard out there.”

Landon Coyle hit one of Faith’s four 3-pointers in the contest and finished with nine points. Josh Forker and Sawyer Smith each added eight and Darius Forney, showing plenty of burst to the basket, had six points.

With the game well in hand, several reserves got to make significant contributions for the Lions.

For Berks, Daylon Boston-Williams led the way with 13 points.