Basketball Recap: The First Academy Skates Past Faith Christian with Ease

The First Academy had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They blew past the Faith Christian Lions 84-53 on Wednesday. Given the Royals' advantage in MaxPreps' Florida basketball rankings (they are ranked 86th, while the Lions are ranked 265th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Max Simmons was his usual excellent self, going 8 of 9 on his way to 21 points along with eight boards and three steals. He has been hot recently, having posted three or more steals the last three times he's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Cory Mcpherson, who went 6 for 9 en route to 15 points in addition to five assists and four steals.

Royals

Assists

02/05/25 vs Faith Christian	24
02/03/25 vs Circle Christian	22
01/28/25 vs Leesburg Christian Prep	17
01/31/25 vs Viera	16
01/30/25 @ Melbourne	13

The First Academy was working as a unit and finished the game with 24 assists. That's the most assists they've managed all season.

The First Academy is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six games, which provided a nice bump to their 17-7 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their performance when it comes to three-point shooting accuracy: their three-point shooting accuracy was 34.7% in those games and 31.6% outside of them. As for Faith Christian, with the loss, they broke their three-game winning streak and moved their record to 19-7.

The First Academy will take on Master's Academy at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Master's Academy knows how to get points on the board -- the squad has finished with 55 points or more in their past 12 contests -- so hopefully The First Academy likes a good challenge. Faith Christian does not have any more games scheduled as of now.