Fountain Hills High School girls basketball team members did not have the home opener they envisioned last Wednesday, but they did get a big win on the road the day before. After the split week, the Falcons’ record moved to 2-2.

The Falcons beat Benjamin Franklin High School 54-27 on Tuesday, Nov. 29, and fell 54-41 to Gilbert Christian on Wednesday, Nov. 30. The Falcons only scored over 50 points once last year, and they had three players in double figures against the Ben Franklin Chargers.

Sophomore CC Smith led all players with 15 points, and sophomore Kaylee Lewis added 12 points. Senior LJ Holland added 10 points, and fellow senior Titleist Patrick scored nine.

“We did a lot of good things on the offensive end,” head coach Amanda Baca said. “It was not so much running the plays; it was more like defense turning into offense.”

According to Smith, the Falcons passed the ball and communicated well against Benjamin Franklin. The defense also closed in on gaps and made it hard for the Chargers to score anywhere under the basket.

The Falcons faced a tougher challenge at home the next day, and they struggled early in the game. The Falcons played more prevent defense on the outside and didn’t close in on defenders inside during the first half, and Gilbert Christian’s senior Lilli Juve took advantage.

Juve made 10 field goals and scored 22 points in the first half alone. She ended the night with 29 points, and everything was either a layup, inside shot or free throw. The Falcons limited Juve to seven points in the second half, and they had more of their own offensive success.

“In the first quarter, we weren’t playing as a team, we were kind of playing as separate individuals,” Smith said. “In the third and fourth quarter, we all came together and we figured out what we needed to do right.”

The Falcons scored three points in the second quarter and fell behind 26-14 at halftime. The Falcons were behind by 22 points at the end of the third quarter, but the local ladies had their best quarter to end the game and made the deficit only 13 points.

Smith ended the night with 21 points, and she scored eight in the final quarter. Patrick was second on the team with nine, and Holland scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter.

Baca said the team was more disciplined offensively in the fourth quarter, but not without encouragement. She called several timeouts when the offense looked like it had stalled out, and then a Falcon would make an aggressive drive toward the basket following the timeout.

There were several times the Falcons looked confused if anyone other than Smith had the ball, and the Falcons had too many turnovers for Baca’s liking. Smith is averaging 19 points per game to start the season, but the Falcons need more help around her.

“CC wants to handle the ball, but when anybody else touches it, it’s like ‘oh goodness, where’s CC?,’” Baca said. “We have to get out of that mindset a little bit and be comfortable with the ball until the play runs through. I think in the fourth quarter, we showed a little more patience and had a little more discipline, which helped us out.”

Freshman Taleigha Bonnaha played for a couple of minutes in the first half versus Gilbert Christian but left during the second quarter after reinjuring her leg. With her extended absence, there is more pressure on the Falcons’ only upperclassmen, seniors Holland and Patrick.

“They are going to both have to step up with their ball handling and their leading,” Baca said. “Just being a little more mentally tough and keeping all of the underclassmen positive and on the same page. Those are big shoes to fill, it’s a big job, but if anybody can do it, it’s those two.”

The Falcons return home this Thursday, Dec. 8, to host San Tan Foothills at 5:30 p.m. The Falcons play at Scottsdale Christian on Wednesday, Dec. 14, and they’ll have two weeks to prepare for the Epic Tourneys New Years Classic.

The Falcons will continue to work in practice and find ways to alleviate pressure off of Smith, even though the talented young guard is averaging more points per game than last year with more defenses thrown at her this year.

“When we played at Valley Christian and Ben Frank, they kind of pressured me a lot,” Smith said. “A lot of teams scout us, so they scout me most of the time because I guess I score a lot. They pressured me a lot, and they always came with double teams and sometimes they tried to triple team.”