The Foothills Falcons haven’t had a lot of practices or games in the early stages of the Senior boys’ high school basketball season, but the team held its own at the Ross Sheppard tournament last weekend in Edmonton.
Falcons’ coach Amron Gwilliam said he was glad to see his team was able to compete at such a high level and he is hoping they are on the verge of winning more games.
The Falcons finished the tournament with a 1-2 record losing in the consolation final to the Chestermere Lakers 91-89 on Saturday.
“Chestermere had a very good six-foot-four point guard who we weren’t able to defend,” Gwilliam said. “He was able to push us around and we didn’t push back.”
The Lakers’ point guard, Jasdeep Gill, lit up the Falcons for 34 points in the victory.
The Falcons were able to tie the game at 87-87 with approximately a minute left. However, they gave up a few turnovers and the Lakers took a 91-87 lead.
Foothills scored a layup with 10 seconds remaining to cut the gap to 91-89 but ran out of time.
First-year Falcon Anand Carrigan led Foothills with 20 points. Ryan Derochie had 19 points for Foothills while Ray Goff and Landon Pitcher finished with 18 and 11 points respectively.
The Falcons advanced to the consolation final by outlasting the Bert Church Chargers 82-72. The Falcons took charge of the game early as they jumped out to a 21-9 lead after 10 minutes. The Falcons then hit a defensive slump as Bert Church scored 29 points in the second quarter to tie the game 38-38 at halftime.
Foothills was able to take charge of the second half to pull off the 82-72 win.
Goff, a Falcons’ rookie, led Foothills in scoring with 16 points. Point guard Pitcher pumped in 15 points while Scott Sparrow and Tyler Grigor had 14 points each.
Foothills started the tournament in what was a rematch of the 2007-08 4A provincial championship game, the Falcons versus the Paul Kane Blues.
Unfortunately for the Falcons, the result was the same as it was three years ago, a Blues win.
The Blues won the game 94-87 to knock the Falcons to the consolation side.
“We didn’t play too bad,” Gwilliam said. “It was only our second game and their seventh. We’ve only had five practices.”
Gwilliam said the Blues are one of the top four teams in Edmonton; as a result, he was pleased with the Falcons’ effort.
Goff was impressive in just his second senior high school game. The Grade 11 student finished with 21 points. The gritty Derochie, who is coming off an ankle injury, had 18 points, Carrigan pumped in 16 points and Pitcher added 13.
Gwilliam had mixed reviews about his team’s performance — pleased with the effort, but he would have liked a few more wins.
“The tournament was sort of a measuring stick for us,” Gwilliam said. “We will have a real test this weekend at the Bert Church tournament (in Airdrie).”
The Falcons will open the tournament against the defending 4A champions, the Western Canada Redmen on Thursday. The Redmen won the HSBC Calgary pres-season tournament on Monday when they downed the Henry Wise Wood Warriors 95-66.
The Redmen are led by point guard Ammon Crowfoot, who transferred from Foothills to Western Canada at the start of last season.
It will be the first-time Crowfoot has played against his former team since transferring to Western Canada.
“My concern is guys like Landon and Ryan who have played with (Crowfoot) for years, will think: ‘We know how good this guy is,’ and might be a bit intimidated,” Gwilliam said. “I think those guys can play with him.”
