Christian Fellowship Eagles basketball team wrapped up their season Saturday with a runner-up finish in the KCAC Tournament in Louisville. CFS won their first round game 69-42 over Evangel Christian then lost in the championship game 57-43 to Portland Christian.
Ending their season at 13-15, this year’s team recorded the best finish in program history in over 20 years. Second year Head Coach Tyler Ryan guided last year’s team to a 9-16 record, after losing the first 10 games of the season then going on to win nine of their last 15, setting the foundation for a successful 2017-2018 season.
“The players have bought into our system since day one”, Ryan said, “This year’s group was the first group to go through our off-season training program and pre-season strength and conditioning program. We make the most of the resources we have available and the boys have fully embraced it. They have been dedicated, they have sacrificed, and they have worked extremely hard.”
CFS will graduate nine seniors from the basketball program who Ryan credits with raising the bar in regards to work ethic and leadership for this program. Those seniors are Brice Etheridge Jesse Covey, Hagyeom Kim, Jaret Logsdon, Thomas Mahoney, Blayne Starkey, Elijah Toth, Zach Tracy and Jordan Vaughn.
“They are having fun playing the game and are understanding not only how to win, but also – that they can win”, Ryan said. “We don’t always have as many players as we had this year, but God is faithful and always provides.”
Ryan said one of their goals was to bring CFS basketball back to a competitive level and thanks to the group of players this season said, “we’re well on our way”.
“Each player understood and embraced his role on the team”, Ryan said. “That can be difficult to do, but that’s what it takes to be successful on the court. We were led by Brice Etheridge (who joined the 1,000 Point Club this year), but everybody played a significant role in our success. We accomplished some things this year that haven’t been done in quite some time at CFS – and all the credit goes to these players.”
“I’ve had a vision for Christian Fellowship basketball from the day I became a part of this program. I have had some amazing mentors throughout my career, so my goal has been to feed every bit of knowledge I have received into this program. I’ve been blessed with this opportunity and have no plans or desire to coach anywhere else.”
Ryan said the goal is to bring a competitive program back to CFS, much like the teams from the Chris Johnson era in the 1990’s and feels that this year’s team proves they are on the right track to do that with a solid group of coaches in place from Elementary to High School. Ryan added that they know lasting success won’t happen overnight but they are trusting the process.
“I am extremely proud of this team”, Ryan said. “Not just for what they accomplished in basketball, but more importantly, for the young men that they are off the court. I know their parents are very proud of the young men these boys have become. They have taught me more than they’ll ever know. God. Family. Basketball.”
CFS stats from KCAC Tournament
| Feb. 15 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
| Evangel Christian | 10 | 28 | 42 | 42 |
| CFS | 18 | 13 | 69 | 69 |
SCORING
CFS: Etheridge 23, Covey 13, Toth 12, Hummel 6, Starkey 4, Binkley 4, Logsdon 3, Bivin 2, Cary 2
CFS: FG 26/17, 3 PT 5/11 (Etheridge 5), FT 12/23, Reb 47, Fouls 12, Ast 8
| Feb. 17 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final |
| Portland Christian | 11 | 26 | 38 | 57 |
| CFS | 8 | 16 | 27 | 43 |
SCORING
CFS: Hummel 11, Toth 10, Etheridge 6, Covey 6, Starkey 4, Phillips 3, Cary 2, Logsdon 1
CFS: FG 19/63, 3 PT 2/13, FT 3/10, Reb 31, Fouls 18, Ast 6
Brice Etheridge and Elijah Toth were named to the KCAC All-Tournament Team.
