After losing 40-35 to Snowflake in the 3A state semifinal basketball game last year, the Fountain Hills High School Falcons waited a week before practicing again. They worked in the offseason and preseason with the goal to get further this year. Technically due to COVID-19, the Falcons did make it further in the playoffs this year, but they still ended on the outside looking into the championship round.

“It felt kind of odd because I made final four two years in a row,” senior Xavier Mike said. “Every year I played varsity, we got closer.”

The Falcons went 22-7 on the season and reached the semifinals again before losing 64-52 to No. 1 Valley Christian this year. This season was head coach Jeff Bonner’s first 20-win season, and his teams have made it to at least the second round of playoffs each of the four years he’s coached at Fountain Hills.

“From my first year till now, we’ve constantly improved,” Bonner said. “That is the goal every season for me and my teams.”

Sophomore Mitchell Perkins was one of four freshmen who watched the Falcons lose to Snowflake last year from the bench. Perkins didn’t play a minute of varsity as a freshman, but he started every game as a sophomore.

“It kind of felt normal,” Perkins said. “Because right after that season, we went straight into summer ball and I started pretty much every game.”

Perkins was a key member of the Falcons this season. He was second on the team behind Mike in points per game. Perkins averaged 11.8 and Mike averaged 13.1, and Perkins’ 8.1 rebounds per game ranked him the ninth best rebounder in 3A. Perkins was also ranked No. 18 in blocks, slightly behind junior Luke Bloedel who averaged 1.1 block per game and was ranked No. 16 in the state.

Perkins’ biggest game of the season was the first playoff match against Chinle. According to him, he was told three different point totals for his career night. The scoring table told him 28, an ASU student reporter told him 26, and the film told Perkins 29 points.

The Times reported Perkins scored 26 points, but no matter what his point total actually was, Perkins knows he can still improve.

“26 of those points at least came from the paint,” Perkins said. “So [I want] to expand my scoring ability to jumpers and maybe three-points. Guard skills all in all.”

Perkins only attempted three three-point shots all season, and one was a half-court shot at the end of a quarter. He wants to improve, but Perkins didn’t want to wait the month Bonner gave his players this offseason to rest. Perkins was already in club tryouts the week after the semi-final loss.

Fellow sophomore Keaton Ort also was an important bench player for the Falcons. Ort and Perkins played club basketball together last year, and Ort averaged the third highest point total with 8.6 per game this season.

“I just think Mitchell and Keaton are key,” Mike said. “They’ll get better looks, play smarter and more patient, and I could see them scoring a lot next year. I see Diesel [Giger] and Ty Cosman stepping up, they just have a lot of work to do this summer. And especially Aiden [Logan] too. He’s got to stick together with those guys. I think if they all stick together, they’ll have a good run next year.”

Giger, Cosman and Casey Osborn are all rising seniors who played late in varsity games this season. They all hope to contribute more to the team next year.

The exiting seniors have high hopes for the returning Falcons. Because Mike was the only returning starter from last year, different players stepped up in different games to help lead the Falcons to victory throughout the season. Next season, the Falcons will be more experienced with varsity players Perkins, Ort, Bloedel and Logan returning.

Seniors Mike, Rieck and JT Mitchell were starters throughout the season, and senior Jared Reichler played point guard when Mike – or “X,” as his teammates call him – was unavailable. Each one of them will be missed next season.

“There was a lot of heart,” Perkins said. “They always brought so much to the team mentality wise too. Jared, even though he didn’t play too much, he would always bring everyone up and make sure everyone was on time. It was that part, and then just X, man. You can’t replace him at all. He was so good. He knew how to get people the ball and dribble it and set up plays.”

The Falcons have the summer to figure out their new roster and starting lineup, and they expect to be back in the championship hunt next season. The goal is unchanged from last season, and Perkins and others are happy to try and win the state championship with Fountain Hills.

“The big thing, all in all, is family; it really is,” Perkins said. “Valley Christian will just get people who show up at their doorstep, really good players, but I have so much respect for Bonner and Brent [Olsen] because they’ve built this team up from the ground and it’s just really amazing. Everyone here has played together for years. Aiden and Keaton and some other players, we’d go to the park, or I’d play with them in YMCA or Boys & Girls Club leagues, so it’s really a family here, and I just want to point that out.”