NCISAA 1A Finals Preview: United Faith vs. Victory Christian

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">This year's NCISAA 1A Final should be a battle of juggernauts as No. 1 United Faith takes on No. 2 Victory Christian Center in the championship game. Take a look at PH's preview.</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The top two seeds will square off for all the marbles in the NCISAA 1A State Championship game on Friday at 7:30 PM at Ravenscroft School. United Faith Christian enters into familiar territory, returning for yet another opportunity to win in the Finals. They fell in last year's title game to Northside Christian Academy, 64-57 as they look to avenge last year's result.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>They've had a strong cast of names leading the charge for them in 2023-24, starting with high IQ guard [player_tooltip player_id='1968872' first='JD' last='Bowden']. The 6-foot-1 junior guard is producing 16.6 PPG, 6.6 APG, 4.2 RPG and 1.6 SPG. Then there's [player_tooltip player_id='1180893' first='DJ' last='Boyce'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1076353' first='Dylan' last='Deluca'], both averaging 13.6 PPG and 13.2 PPG, respectively. While Boyce has shown his prowess as a scoring slasher, Deluca has grown as a 3-and-D presence, shooting 45 percent from deep and averaging 6.7 RPG. On the interior, big man [player_tooltip player_id='1046670' first='Isaiah' last='Sutherland'] will look to hold his own against another emerging big man in the frontcourt with Victory Christian. Sutherland is posting 9.6 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 1.7 BPG. He'll look to anchor the defense to a title in this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Victory Christian Center has been one of the top teams in the NCISAA 1A as evidenced by their No. 2 seeding in the playoffs. This isn't their first time facing United Faith, either, as they fell to them in the 2021 State Championship game, 65-51. They'll look to avenge that loss led by their starring cast of [player_tooltip player_id='1608360' first='Xavier' last='Perry'], [player_tooltip player_id='2305995' first='Justyn' last='Whitfield'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2276225' first='Abdulai' last='Kabba Fanta']. Perry is an unsigned senior who's continued to show his growth in the backcourt while Kabba Fanta has held his own in the painted area and Whitfield continues to grow as a top 2026 prospect name to know.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Perry leads the backcourt with 13.0 PPG, 4.0 APG, 2.1 RPG and 1.6 SPG while Whitfield is producing 12.1 PPG on 36 percent shooting from deep. Kabba Fanta is averaging a double-double with 10.7 PPG and 10.3 RPG along with 1.8 BPG. He'll certainly look to hold his own against Winston-Salem State commit [player_tooltip player_id='1046670' first='Isaiah' last='Sutherland'] in Friday night's game. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's worth noting, both teams met back on Jan. 12 as United Faith took home a 64-59 victory. With implications in this one riding a lot higher, look for the score to be a bit higher in the 70s range as both teams look to figure each other out. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->