The Fountain Hills High School girls basketball team has won four in a row, and six of their last seven games. The Falcons (12-8) have climbed in the rankings from No. 26 to No. 20 in that span, and their most recent win over No. 22 Scottsdale Christian Academy (SCA) put them one step closer to playoffs.

Senior Alexis Ibarra hit a three-pointer on the Falcons’ first possession against SCA, but it would be her sister, junior Alicia Ibarra, who lit the Eagles up from downtown. Alicia powered the Falcons to a 54-40 victory with 22 points, and a perfect six for six from three-point range.

“She said at the beginning of the game, ‘Baca, I need to start because it’s mine and Lex’s last game at home,” head coach Amanda Baca said of Alicia. “When she lights up, she’ll do this in practice every once in a while, six or seven in a row. Tonight, she felt it. So, you let it fly. You let your shooters shoot when they’re that hot. I was all for that.”

The Falcons controlled the first quarter and built up a 13-7 lead, but the Eagles caught up with two three-pointers in their first two possessions. Alexis took the lead back with two-points, but then SCA hit their third three-pointer to take their first lead at 16-15.

Alexis tied it with a free-throw, and Alicia took the lead back with her first three. Alicia hit three three-pointers in a 90 second span before halftime, and sophomore Kaylee Lewis made three free throws on two trips in the last 30 seconds to take a 32-19 lead.

“It was tied, so I thought to myself, ‘Okay, I have to pick my team up and build their confidence,’” Alicia said. “We all turn up when one of us starts scoring. I think it was just confidence and defense that won that game.”

Alexis was second with 12 points, and Lewis scored seven points, with five free throw makes and one miss. Freshman Kynzi Schaunaman scored six points and sophomore CC Smith added three points and five assists.

Alicia had four steals behind Smith’s five. The Falcons had 12 total steals and both Ibarra sisters added a block on the defensive end. The Falcons faced a tall opponent who grabbed 17 rebounds and they were outrebounded 39-30, but Smith used her quickness to pick up a team-high eight rebounds.

The Falcons were 6-7 before the Ibarra sisters played, and they never won consecutive games before them this season. The Falcons were already on pace to outperform last year’s squad that went 7-17, and they’ve been hard at work chasing a playoff berth since the sisters joined.

The Falcons also took care of No. 25 Wickenburg on the road with a 40-28 win on Tuesday, Jan. 31. Alexis was the leading scorer with 12 points, followed by senior Titleist Patrick with nine. Alexis also grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks, while Alicia and Schaunaman each had two blocks.

“I think we just have to keep up our defense and stay confident and don’t underestimate teams that we already played,” Alicia said. “They could be coming harder than they were before, so I think we just need to go hard through the rest of the season and make playoffs. I’m very excited to play Bourgade as well on their senior night. It’ll be a good game.”

The Falcons have known their best chance to get into playoffs was to win out the rest of their games, and only No. 29 Northwest Christian and No. 6 Bourgade Catholic stand in the way. The Falcons played a tight game with Northwest Christian in January and led 35-32 through three quarters before pulling away 48-37 in the fourth.

Baca doesn’t want to count her chickens before they hatch, but she has a good feeling ahead of Northwest Christian. The Falcons played there after press time yesterday, Tuesday, Feb. 7.

Bourgade Catholic (19-3) is the biggest obstacle and the only team to beat the Falcons since the Ibarra sisters joined. The Golden Eagles lost two of their first three games, and a New Year’s tournament championship, but they haven’t lost in 2023 and are on a 12-game win streak.

Bourgade Catholic beat the other region opponents in 3A North Central so badly that they averaged a 34-point margin of victory in their first 10 region games. That includes their game at Fountain Hills on Jan. 21, when the Falcons played them close and only lost by six points, 45-39.

The Falcons can’t afford many slipups, as only the top 24 teams make playoffs. They look forward to their rematch at Bourgade Catholic on Thursday, Feb. 9, at 5:30 p.m. and hope it prepares them for playoffs.

The first round of playoffs will start at 7 p.m. next Tuesday, Feb. 14. The schedule will sort out as the regular season ends, but the first two rounds take place at the higher seed’s home gym. As of this writing on Monday, Feb. 6, the No. 20 Falcons would travel to No. 13 Tuba City (15-11).