The Fountain Hills High School girls basketball team lost two more region games last week. Despite the losses, the Falcons have been playing better basketball of late. When the Falcons traveled to Northwest Christian on Jan. 18, they lost 57-31. When the Falcons hosted the Crusaders last Friday, Feb. 4, the local squad lost by three, 42-39.

The Falcons lost 64-26 to Bourgade Catholic last Monday, Jan. 31. The Falcons beat American Leadership Academy – Ironwood and Chino Valley in their first two games of January 2022, but they’ve lost seven straight since.

“It was a rough January,” senior Michaela Quintana said. “We were down to five girls for the majority of January, due to grades, ineligibility, sickness, all of that. We were running on five, with one sub every now and then if we were lucky.”

Quintana scored six points last Friday, but her bigger contribution came on defense. It was her responsibility to guard Northwest’s 6’2” sophomore, Katelyn Best.

“She was huge,” Quintana said. “I think there was a lot of tension between her and I tonight, because we played them a couple of weeks ago at their court with five girls and we lost by like 20 points. CC [Smith] also fouled out in the fourth, so we only had four. We barely lost the game tonight with seven, so there was a little bit of beef. The last time, [Best] kept beating me downcourt, and I knew I wasn’t going to let that happen tonight.”

Thanks to junior LJ Holland, the Falcons led the entire first half against Northwest Christian. Holland scored the first points of the game from beyond the arc, and she made three more three-pointers in the first half. Holland finished with a team high 12 points, and head coach Amanda Baca said Holland had an attitude shift in the last few weeks which helped her mentally lock in.

“Practice has been different for her,” Baca said about Holland. “She’s been a little more focused and a little more mentally tough, which I think showed tonight. She was all over it on the floor, and she didn’t come off. She gave us 32 full minutes.”

The Falcons led 21-17 after the break, and freshman Kaylee Lewis added five points in the first two minutes of the second half. After going 3/13 from the line in her first game a week ago, Lewis made 75% of her free throws last Friday.

The Falcons shot 65% from the free throw line as a team on Friday. The free throw percentage is just shy of what the Falcons practice and aim for.

“The last couple of weeks, we do a drill where we have to shoot 70%,” Quintana said. “We shoot 70% in the beginning, and we shoot 70% at the middle of practice so our heartrate is going, and then at the end of practice, as a whole, we have to shoot 70%. We each get one shot, and if we miss it, we have to do down and backs. We have to hit our certain mark and [Baca’s] made us adapt to it for sure.”

The Falcons had a slump in the third quarter, and Northwest Christian took a 28-26 lead with 3:16 left in the quarter. Freshman CC Smith made two free throws and Quintana added a layup in the last two minutes so the Falcons could regain a 30-28 lead.

Lewis made one of two free throws at the beginning of the final quarter, but Northwest Christian made three baskets to lead 36-31. Senior Soliel Smith made two free throws and a layup on back-to-back plays to bring the Falcons within one, but the Crusaders were able to pull away in the final minutes.

The Falcons have four games remaining on their schedule, and a few ice baths in between. They played two games yesterday in a double header against Wickenburg, and they will host Bourgade Catholic tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 9, at 5:30 p.m. in their last home game of the season. The Falcons travel to Camp Verde this Friday, Feb. 11, for their final regular season outing at 5:30 p.m.

“We’re getting to where we need to be; the thing is, it’s the end of the season,” Baca said. “And that’s what they don’t understand. When you go from playing June ball and not doing anything else until November, it takes you eight weeks to get where you want to be. In those eight weeks, if you haven’t pieced together a few wins, it's too little too late. So, definitely a lot more fall ball next year.”