MAGRATH — Too little left, too late.
The Foothills Falcons were emotional and physically drained after dropping their 4A provincial senior boys tournament opener 65-54 to the host Magrath Zenith Thursday.
“Our guys were definitely disappointed, we thought we could finish higher than we did,” Falcons coach Amron Gwilliam said. “We had an opportunity to beat Magrath and it took a lot out of us. We should have played better the next two days.”
The Falcons went on the finish tied for 13th in the 16-team tournament after downing the Charles Spencer Spartans from Grande Prairie 86-75 early Saturday morning in Lethbridge.
Foothills started the game flat – the 13th place game wasn’t what the Falcons were hoping for going into the biggest high school event of the year in Alberta.
“We didn’t start as well as we wanted to and we were only up 45-42 at halftime,” Gwilliam said. “I told the guys the next half will be the last time they will play together. They figured things out and held them to 13 points in the third quarter… We built up about 15-point lead and were able to hold on for the rest of the game.
They also went out in senior-style.
Gwilliam made sure graduating players Adam Pahl, Peter Baker, Tyler Ziehl and Alex Hadzisakovic was on the court as their final Falcon game ticked down.
Foothills went into the tournament on a roll and had high-hopes after finishing the regular season strongly.
However, the Zenith was the fifth-ranked team in the province and they were playing in the friendly, enthusiastic confines of their home gym.
The Zenith also happen to be talented.
“It was a very physical game on both side of the floor — there weren’t a lot of whistles on both sides of the floor.” Gwilliam said. “It was very defensive, neither team was really able to score.”
The Zenith put a zipper-lock on the Falcons shooters, shutting down on three-point phenom Peter Baker and Grade 12 stalwart Adam Pahl.
“We were never able to quite get over the hump,” Gwilliam said. “We would make a little run, and then they would make a big run.
“But I thought our defence was exceptional.”
The week prior to provincials, Magrath had averaged more than 90 points a game in winning the South zone title.
The Falcons also handled the loud, Hoosiers-like crowd from Magrath. Likely a quarter of town’s 2,200 population was at the game, the fans decked out in Zenith blue-and-yellow.
“As much as it was tough to play in, I don’t thing the crowd affected us at all,” Gwilliam said. “We have played against crowds similar to that before.”
After the draining loss, the Falcons drew Edmonton’s Bishop O’Leary Spartans on the consolation side on Friday morning– a side high school players don’t exactly dream of. The Falcons dropped a 94-88 decision to the Spartans
“We weren’t as quick and we just didn’t have the energy as we did against Magrath — we just didn’t play very well against defensively O’Leary,” Gwilliam said. “They were a scrappy team and we had a lot of turnovers.”
The Falcons were able to make it close.
The tilt was tied with approximately 30 seconds left when a Spartan was fouled in the act of shooting and made the foul shot to take a three-point lead.
Foothills then just missed their three-point attempt. The Falcons was forced to foul and the Spartans were money from the charity-stripe to win by six.
The Falcons then closed out their season with the win over Charles Spencer High. Calgary’s Bishop McNally Timberwolves won the provincial title by downing the Cardston Cougars 95-70 at the University of Lethbridge.
