What a debut for the Falcons’ new Senior girls basketball head coach.
The Falcons took home the SAIT high school basketball tournament title by downing Red Deer’s Lindsay Thurber Raiders in the tournament final Saturday in Calgary, in what was new head coach Vince Hunter’s premiere.
“Lindsay Thurber has been a tough team for us in the past – we hadn’t been on the winning side with them for quite a while,” Hunter said. “It was a hard fought game, as both teams play very similar.”
Hunter had the most important ingredient for a rookie coach at the senior level – talent.
Falcons three-year veteran Hannah Helton used her accurate shooting to slay more Raiders than in a Johnny Depp pirate movie.
“Hannah just lit it up for us from three-point land,” Hunter said. “She had 27 points and five threes.”
The Falcons also had some help in the paint.
“Cevanna Carlson and Alli Taylor our big girls at 4 and 5 were almost unstoppable and ran the floor like they were guards,” Hunter said. “They were special to watch.”
The Falcons advanced to the final by downing the Olds Spartans and the George McDougall Mustangs in Foothills’ previous games.
“By halftime we were confident that we were going to win both of those games,” Hunter said. “What I take away from those games is we won with class. We played hard, played smart basketball, but we didn’t push to create a bigger gap in the scoreboard. I thought our girls showed how to win with class.”
Helton had the impressive numbers but her hard-working teammates were also instrumental in the tournament victory.
“In terms of looking at that tournament, what we took away is we are 12-deep and we can compete at that level,” Helton said. “We lost Teah Simard to an ankle injury in the first game that really hurt us on the defensive side.”
However, the scrappy Jaiden Hansen was tenacious on defence throughout the tournament, according to Hunter.
The Falcons are in tough this weekend as they travel to Cardston for a tournament.
They host the Falcons Classic on Dec. 16-17 at the Comp.
The Falcons are Brooklyn Baker, Danielle Foord, Jaiden Hansen, Chayle Clark, Erica Holdon, Georgia Edey, Teah Simard, Alli Taylor, Hannah Helton, Annaliese Curtis, Cevanna Carlson and Claire Shirakawa.
