The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Although they have a slightly different team this year, Theo Knowles is still confident that his Pasadena Faith Saints men’s basketball team can repeat as the 2021 Texas A1 State champions.

The No.10 ranked Saints dropped to 5-6 yesterday on their Faith Christian Academy home court as they suffered a 45-39 loss at the hands of the Angleton Christian Academy Warriors, an opponent out of the 2A Division.

Despite the loss, Knowles said they still performed very well.

“We had a very good team performance today. We did much better than we did in our last game. We gelled nicely. I think it was good team chemistry, considering that we have some new players,” Knowles said.

Knowles, who celebrated his 19th birthday on January 21, had a sub-par performance with just 15 points, connecting on six in the first quarter, two in the second and seven in the third. He didn’t score in the fourth.

“My performance could have been better, but some days you are on and some days you are off,” said Knowles, who is averaging 18 points per game. “I just fell short for my team today. I came through, but I didn’t come through enough.”

Claiming that it was an off day for him, Knowles said he just needs to work on his mid-range jump shot, isolating the floor more and seeing his teammates much better and he will be okay.

The Saints, coached by Phillip Dela Rosa, won’t be back in action until Tuesday and hopefully they will turn things around before they get ready for the State Championship at the end of the month.

“I think we can still win the state championship,” he said. “We have already qualified for the tournament in San Antonio, so we have a shot at going all the way. It’s a competitive league. There are a lot of talented players. There are a lot of players who impact their team defensively and offensively, but I think we have a team that is capable of winning it again this year.”

Knowles, the son of Charlene and Harvey Knowles Sr, left Temple Christian where he starred for the Suns basketball team in grade 11 for Houston, Texas, to continue his high school career at the Faith Christian Academy.