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Foothills Falcons claim league championship

Empowered by a boisterous home crowd the Holy Trinity Academy Knights nearly pulled off the upset of the season, but the Foothills Composite Falcons who rolled through the regular season hung on to claim the league title.
Foothills’ Tyler Grigor (right) is guarded by HTA’s James LaGrange (left) during the Falcons’ 63-61 FAC title victory at Holy Trinity Academy on Saturday.
Foothills’ Tyler Grigor (right) is guarded by HTA’s James LaGrange (left) during the Falcons’ 63-61 FAC title victory at Holy Trinity Academy on Saturday.

Empowered by a boisterous home crowd the Holy Trinity Academy Knights nearly pulled off the upset of the season, but the Foothills Composite Falcons who rolled through the regular season hung on to claim the league title.

It was a clutch performance in the waning seconds by the Falcons who narrowly edged out the Knights, 63-61 in the Foothills Athletic Council Senior boys’ championship game at Holy Trinity Academy (HTA) on Saturday night (March 5).

“At the end, we executed well, made some good buckets and we got the few key stops that we needed,” Foothills coach Amron Gwilliam said.

Leading 62-61 with just seven seconds left Falcons captain Ryan Derochie was on the free-throw line following a Knights’ intentional foul with a chance to extend the lead.

Derochie proceeded to hit one of two free throws to put the Falcons up by two.

The Knights were unable to collect the decisive final rebound on the missed second free throw attempt as time ran out.

“They got some big rebounds when they needed, they got steals when they needed and that’s what good veteran teams do,” HTA coach Sam Aiello said.

Derochie, who led the way for Foothills with 17 points, said he wasn’t nervous when faced with the last-second pressure situation.

“I knew it counted,” he said. “I’ve been there before.”

Gwilliam said he was pleased one of his team’s leaders was able to step up when it was needed most.

“I was confident with him, as the team captain, that he would step up there,” he said.

Despite losing decisively to Foothills in their two previous meetings, HTA surprised the Falcons early.

Holy Trinity took a six-point lead into the halftime break and maintained the advantage through the third quarter.

Foothills finally managed to close the gap and even took a brief lead in the fourth quarter.

After James LaGrange gave the Knights a 61-60 lead with a minute left, the Falcons managed to answer right back.

Up by one, the Knights committed a five-second violation on a crucial in-bounds play.

The resulting turnover gave Foothills the ball and led to Derochie’s free throws.

Despite the loss, Holy Trinity Academy’s effort in the FAC title game certainly surprised outside observers.

Aiello said he was pleased to see the competitive atmosphere return to the cross-town rivalry.

“That’s what the rivalry in town is about,” he said. “That’s the atmosphere that a Foothills-Holy Trinity game should have.”

Gwilliam agreed and credited his opponents for giving the Falcons their best shot.

“I thought they wanted it more than us for most of the game,” he said. “I thought they played excellent basketball.”

The Falcons’ balanced attack in the fourth quarter certainly helped in closing the deficit.

Four Foothills players (Derochie, Ray Goff, Scott Sparrow and Joss Engen) had multiple baskets in the game’s final quarter as they outscored Holy Trinity Academy 22-14 down the stretch.

LaGrange led the Knights’ offensive attack with 24 points.

The Holy Trinity Academy guard lamented the game’s final play, when his team was unable to secure a rebound.

“We just couldn’t squeeze it,” he said.

Although the pain of the loss was still fresh, LaGrange said he was pleased with how his team closed out the FAC season.

“It was the best game we played against them all year,” he said. “We left it all out on the court.”

Falcons fall in final

The Falcons came close to sweeping the FAC boys bracket, unfortunately it was not to be.

Foothills Composite dropped the Junior Varsity final to Holy Cross Collegiate 73-66.

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