ARVADA — Need any proof that Faith Christian is the gold standard of Class 3A boys hoops? Look in its trophy case.
The Eagles are four-time defending champions and are again the favorites in 2011-12. They sit No. 1 in the 3A coaches poll. Their initial 3A test came Saturday at home against the Patriot League’s Eaton Reds.
The Eagles passed with flying colors. They used a 19-1 second-quarter run to put the Reds in their rearview mirror and improved to 5-1 with a 51-33 nonleague victory.
Faith Christian coach Andrew Hasz expects every opponent’s best game each time out.
“We enjoy that, honestly,” he said. “We capitalize on it and don’t shy away from it.We relish that, because we know we are going to be battle-tested.”
The Eagles — who came in fresh off a trip to Arizona for the inaugural Christian Cup, where they dropped their first game in more than a year to Gilbert Christian (Arizona’s 1A runner-up in 2011) — were a little sluggish early and trailed 16-14 after one quarter.
A quick talking-to and a turn of the nob on the defensive meter seemed to do the trick in the second eight minutes.
“They came out shooting the ball well, and we just kept turning over the ball. We couldn’t close out the shooters or secure rebounds,” Faith’s Nathan Rindels said. “As we moved on, we put an emphasis on stopping those things, and it went more smoothly.”
Rindels scored 20 of the Eagles’ 33 first-half points and finished with 23.
No. 10 Eaton (4-2) never found the shooting rhythm that carried it in the first quarter. The Eagles clamped down on sharp-shooter Reed Merritt — who along with Trent Sieg paced the team with six points — and the rest of the Reds, allowing just 17 points over the final 24 minutes.
“We played pretty good basketball those opening eight minutes,” Eaton coach Dean Grable said. “We struggled offensively after that, and they got a lot of offensive rebounds, which is not good for us.”
Eaton: 16 1 12 4 — 33
Faith Christian: 14 19 8 10 — 51
Eaton: R. Merritt 2 1-1 6, Ekeler 0 1-4 1, Abbott 1 2-4 4, Reiher 1 0-2 3, McIntyre 1 0-0 2, C. Merritt 0 0-0 0, Nelson 1 0-0 2, Hall 0 0-0 0, Dixon 0 0-0 0, Babb 1 0-0 2, Garretson 0 0-0 0, Gregory 0 0-0 0, Needens 2 0-0 5, Anders 1 0-0 2, Sieg 3 0-1 6. Totals 13 4-12 33.
Faith Christian: Rindels 6 9-10 23, Cambier 1 4-4 6, Finnefrock 0 0-0 0, Buchman 4 0-0 8, McCartney 2 3-5 7, Albright 0 0-0 0, Wolf 0 0-0 0, Lanier 0 0-0 0, Miler 3 0-2 7, O’Donnell 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 16-21 51.
3-pt. goals: R. Merritt, Reiher, Needens; Rindels 2, Miller. Fouled out: None. Technicals: None.
Jon E. Yunt: 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com
