The Falcons took flight on two fronts at a marquee high school basketball kickoff.
The Foothills Falcons senior girls took home silver at the St. Francis Xavier Mike Dea Basketball Classic in Edmonton with the boys team starting strong and closing with an eighth place finish at the Dec. 1-3 competition.
"I said that our goal was very simple, that we want to see growth and have blocks that we were building with each game that would be trending towards our success," said Falcons senior girls head coach Jordan Britton. "Yes, we wanted to win, absolutely, but our goal at this point, early in the season, is to get better each game.
"With each game, I think we did take steps forward and we were able to get some early momentum for this point in the season."
Foothills got off to a storming start with a 79-29 victory over Saskatchewan’s Lumsden Devils in its tournament curtain-raiser.
"We came out to play like we had been waiting around for a five- or six-month offseason," the coach said with a laugh. "We came out hungry, energetic and ready and that Lumsden team, shout out to them, they didn't quit, didn't give up.
"But our girls did not stop for 40 minutes straight."
Day two of the competition saw the Falcons chase the Spruce Grove Panthers by a 61-37 score to advance to the gold medal game.
After an early test, Foothills found its form led by the team's defensive intuition and prowess to make it uncomfortable for its opposition, the coach added.
In the tournament final, Edmonton’s Jasper Place Rebels rode off with 73-38 triumph.
"That was a fight right from the beginning," Britton said. "Jasper Place came to play, we knew that they like to play physical like us. We had some success earlier on, but as the game went on I think we ran out of steam and they hit some shots.
"They played a really tough game and they're a team we would love to see later on in the season."
Grade 11 guard Ella Watkins and Grade 10 forward Savanah Sommerfeldt were named the team's tournament all-stars for contributions on both sides of the court.
"Ella Watkins was a fantastic defender and we jokingly called her a one-girl press because she did not let any matchup get comfortable with her whatsoever," Britton said. "Savanah was a tough rebounder, was scoring for us and is starting to find her footing at the high school level and she's doing it really well."
For Britton, starting the campaign off with this kind of success validates what he's been telling the team about how much potential it has.
"This is a group that wants to work hard, gets along terrifically and wants to see (each other) do the best they can," he said. "It shows us that if we come and do our job throughout the season that we'll be in a really good place."
The Falcons are coming off a strong season with a top-10 finish at provincials after taking the South Central Zone championship in the spring.
Foothills' strong group of incumbents includes Watkins, Tia Glazier, Skye Chubak, Danielle Linkletter, Dior Sellars, Alexa Hayes, Adison Lybbert and Jessica Duffill.
"They want to win and they fight hard, our physicality and defence is something that will be a calling card for us this season," said Britton. "Because each one of these girls want to compete and they want to win."
In the boys bracket, Foothills looked to get in some early season reps on the heels of a couple of weeks of practices.
“We just wanted to see our guys play again for the first time,” said Falcons head coach Amron Gwilliam. “We’ve got a lot of new guys on the team this year and could see how we meshed together as a team and implement what we’ve been working on in practice.
“That was our main goal, we didn’t know how we would match up with everybody on the scoreboard, but overall we did OK.”
Foothills boasts a strong returning roster, with particular experience in the backcourt featuring Ben Stephan, Owen Christensen, Tyler Olson and Mac Purinton along with sharpshooter Evan Fitzner on the wing.
New to the senior team this year are Van Kerrison, Nash Byam, Ki Williams, Bergen Hall, Callen Sorenson, Damon Johnson, Cache Perrett and Colby Richards.
“We have a good mix of guys, some that were there last year and a couple of standouts on our JV team last year,” Gwilliam said. “And we’re excited to have a little bit more size than what we had last year.”
In Edmonton, Foothills took its opener 97-69 over British Columbia’s Prince George Polars.
Kerrison led the way with a dominant 25 points and 18 rebounds.
“Our guys were hungry and ready to go and excited to play,” Gwilliam said. “Our guys came out really well and it took us a couple of shifts to get over our nerves, a lot of our guys were nervous playing in their first senior boys basketball tournament.
“We really shot the ball well that game and our defensive pressure, they had a hard time handling it.”
The second match saw the Comp downed 105-82 by the Leduc Tigers and were then eclipsed by Regina’s Leboldus Suns by an 83-80 score. Olson had a team-high 20 and 18 points in the matches.
To close the competition, the Falcons saw the St. Francis Browns deliver a 102-87 victory.
“A lot of our guys were trying to figure out our systems and what kind of shots we’re trying to get and who can do what,” the coach added. “It’s all part of that first weekend of the year feeling out process for guys and coaches and teammates all trying to create that chemistry between everybody.”
Next up for the Falcons is the Cardston Cougars tournament from Dec. 9-10 with the opening draw against the always tough Raymond Comets.
