The Falcons (20-6) only needed one. Instead, the Fountain Hills High School boys varsity basketball team won all three of their final region games, secured a No. 5 ranking, and a first round bye in the state playoff tournament.

The last week of the regular season began on Tuesday, Feb. 8, when the Falcons hosted Wickenburg. The Wranglers (15-14) were outmatched and hardly kept up with the Falcons. Senior Alex Rieck scored 11 of his season high 19 points in the first quarter, and the Falcons led 20-9 after one quarter.

Rieck’s final score of the quarter came off an assist from junior Aiden Logan right before the buzzer. Logan was double covered but he flipped it to Rieck for the easy basket.

“I just like getting my teammates involved,” Logan said. “I like bettering them.”

Logan averaged 3.3 assists per game through 14 games this season, which is good for the 19th highest assist rate in 3A basketball. Only senior Xavier Mike averages more assists per game than Logan on the Falcons. Mike is second in 3A with 5.5 assists per game.

Against Wickenburg, Mike had the second most points with 13. Logan added nine points, sophomores Keaton Ort and Mitchell Perkins both scored eight points, and senior JT Mitchell had six points. The Falcons went on to win 70-33.

The next day, the Falcons welcomed another region opponent. The results were similar, as Fountain Hills beat Bourgade Catholic (9-15) 80-33. In both these games, and in other recent blowouts, juniors Ty Cosman, Deisel Giger and Casey Osborne have taken to the court late. The three have played primarily JV this season, but on Wednesday, they added blocks and points to their varsity stats.

The big wins over Wickenburg and Bourgade Catholic solidified the Falcons’ playoff berth, but the Falcons wanted to close out the regular season strong. The Falcons lost 63-62 on Jan. 25 when Camp Verde came to town, and they wanted payback during last week’s showdown.

“We’re still taking it serious. We take every game serious, no matter who we’re playing,” Logan said last Tuesday. “But Camp Verde is the one I’m looking forward to.”

After Tuesday’s win over Wickenburg, the Falcons livestreamed the Northwest Christian/Camp Verde game in the Falcon Nest. The Falcons beat Northwest Christian twice, each time by more than 20 points, but the Crusaders pushed Camp Verde to the limit, only falling 73-69.

The Falcons watched for insight, but they weren’t trying to replicate Northwest Christian’s near success. The Falcons wanted to win their own way, and they knew they had to pay special attention to how senior guard Chino Salas-Zorilla ran the Cowboys’ offense.

“We need to take them out of their game plan,” Logan said. “They’re really good at shooting the ball, so we’ll take them off the three-point line and make them take layups. We’ll take a layup over a three because they can really shoot. If we take [Salas-Zorilla] out of his game, we should have this in the bag.”

Salas-Zorilla scored 24 points, higher than his 23.1 average, and he made five of his 15 three-point attempts. The Falcons weren’t able to shut him down completely, but they did make it a one-man show. Without Salas-Zorilla, the Cowboys made 20% of their three-pointers, and 30% of their two-point shots.

The Falcons beat Camp Verde 71-55, but the double-digit win wasn’t enough to shake up the standings. The Cowboys remained the No. 3 seed, and the Falcons stayed at the No. 5 spot. The Falcons hoped that by tying the Cowboys’ region record of 9-1, they would be named co-region champions. Unfortunately, the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) only named Camp Verde the 3A North Central region champion since they were ranked higher.

“It definitely makes us want to show AIA they gave the region to the wrong team,” junior Luke Bloedel said. “But I definitely think we already have a ton of incentive to win [state].”

The Falcons have earned a first-round bye as one of the top teams in 3A. The Falcons will host this Saturday, Feb. 19, at 7 p.m. right here in town. They will face the winner of No. 12 Chinle and No. 21 San Tan Foothills.

If the boys advance to the quarterfinals, they will play again on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The third round will be held in the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley. The semifinals and championship rounds will be played at the Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 25-26.