MAGRATH — The Foothills Falcons just couldn’t get over a year-long bugaboo at the biggest girls basketball tournament of the year.
They couldn’t get over their turnovers in their opening game of the 4A Senior girls high school basketball championship at Magrath.
The no. 5 Strathcona Lords rallied to beat the no. 12 Falcons 69-62 Thursday in Magrath.
“We had 42 turnovers and that destroyed us.” Falcons coach Vince Hunter said. “To still be in the game with that many turnovers… You cut those in half and it’s a different game.”
The Falcons showed both their talent and inexperience in the game.
Foothills trailed 7-0 in the opening minutes, but battled back to take a 31-30 lead at the half when Falcon Brooklynn Baker canned a free throw to complete a three-point play.
Foothills built a 52-44 lead going into the last 10 minutes as guard Georgia Edey hit a pair of buckets in the final minute of the fourth quarter.
But there’s a thin-line between youthful enthusiasm and angst.
“We are a young team still and we are learning how to play with a lead,” Hunter said. “We got a little anxious in the fourth when we had a good lead and let Strathcona back in the game.”
Alli Taylor had a double-double against Strathcona with 18 points and 11 rebounds and averaged 14 rebounds per game in the tournament.
The loss dropped the Falcons down to the B-side and they wound up drawing the Cardston Cougars in the consolation quarterfinal in Lethbridge. The Falcons’ effort came up just short, losing 70-62 in OT.
The scrappy Foothills contingent was down by nine with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
Foothills tied the game when Jaiden Hansen it a pair of three-point shots followed by Hannah Helton draining a pair of high-pressure foul shots.
The Falcons nearly pulled the game out of the hat when they forced a steal and a Foothills shot just bounced off the rim.
“We were able to tie it up and then Cardston hit some big shots in overtime and that allowed them to pull away,” Hunter said.
Foothills were able to cut their turnovers to 20 against the Cougs, but the Falcons couldn’t buy a bucket.
“We shot under 30 per cent from the floor —you can’t win with that kind of shooting percentage,” Hunter said. “We missed 34 points in the paint.
“The kids played super-hard, we just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop.”
Hunter felt for his young squad after two tough losses.
“I was so disappointed for the girls, but not in what they did,” Hunter said. “They have done so much for the program… I felt they deserved more than what they got out of it.”
Foothills closed out the season by finishing tied for 13th place by drubbing the Lloydminster Barons 92-39 Saturday morning in Lethbridge.
“It was nice to finish with the win, but not the win we were looking forward to,” Hunter said.
Cevanna Carlson, who will return next year to Foothills, had a double-double in the victory with 12 points and 10 rebounds
It was the final game as a Falcon for Helton, Hansen, Chayle Clark, Danielle Foord and Annaliese Curtis.
Helton, who hopes to play post-secondary ball next year, had her typically strong tournament.
The guard averaged 22 points and five assists, steals and rebounds at provincials.
She also nailed her 100th three-point shot of the season at the tournament.
She’s going to miss playing roundball at the Comp.
“It was sad, we were really disappointed to play our last game,” Helton said of her three years of playing senior varsity. “I’ve really learned a lot, especially this year as we got closer.”
The Jasper Place Rebels are the 4A provincial high school girls champions, downing the Western Canada Redhawks 74-59 Saturday in the final at the University of Lethbridge.
