Charity begins at home, but it also comes with a ton of pressure.
Foothills Falcon Hunter Boriskewich hit three consecutive free-throws from the charity stripe in the dying seconds to force overtime at 61-61 as the hosts went on to win the Falcon Classic 69-66 over the Ernest Manning Griffins Feb. 16 at the raucous Comp gym.
“I just told myself I have to make these shots for my team and all the fans who came out,” the Grade 12 Boriskewich said. “I knew I had to get these to get to overtime.
“We shoot like a hundred free throws every practice, and I just thought like I was back at practice.”
The Griffins fouled the wrong guy when Boriskewich went up for a three-pointer with 13 seconds left. He shoots 90 per cent from the stripe.
The Falcons still had some work to do to win their third Falcons Classic in four years.
The Griffins took a precarious 67-66 lead three minutes into the five-minute overtime on a jumper by Pearce Nadeau.
A minute and a half later the Falcons would take the lead when 6-foot-8 Justin Cyr worked his way inside for a layup. Rather than go over the top to Cyr, it was a seeing-eye bounce pass from Logan Richards.
“It was hard to recover the ball, but once I got it, I was wide open and took the shot,” Cyr said.
Cyr, who was named the Falcons’ game MVP, finished with a team-high 22 points.
The two tired teams exchanged the ball a few times in a sometimes sloppy final 90 seconds, but the Griffins had the chance for the winner as they were inbounding the pass with just over 10 seconds left in the game.
Then Boriskewich struck again, but this time in the form of Hunter’s smaller brother Cameron.
Nadeau took the inbound pass with 13.1 seconds left, but Cameron was able to force a jump ball when he took equal position for the ball with the Griffin. The Falcons had the possession arrow.
“Our coach wanted us to double-team him because was creating for their team,” Cameron said. “The double-team didn’t come, so I just got in front of him and he just went into my hands and forced the turnover and we got the win.”
While Nadeau felt he was fouled, that wasn’t the case said the young Falcon.
“No, I had all ball on that,” Cameron said.
The Griffins were forced to foul and Hunter Boriskewich iced the game with a pair of free throws to cement the 69-66 victory.
Hunter Boriskewich finished with 15 points while Richards had 11, eight of them in the final 10 minutes.
Disappointing for the Griffins, but head coach John Hanrahan was pleased with his team’s fortitude and effort.
“Foothills is good, they shoot very well and they are deep,” Hanrahan said. “I thought both teams were tired, and we only had eight guys. I love this tournament. It feels like a family tournament – they pack the stands whenever Foothills plays.”
The Falcons were able to keep their cool in the final despite going down 13-3 in the opening minutes and then letting a 39-30 third-quarter bulge slip away as the Griffins had a 44-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
No time to panic, just time for Falcon basketball.
“At the end of the third quarter I just said ‘We have to play better,’’’ Falcons coach Amron Gwilliam said. “All of the things we’ve been teaching all year. They know what they are, they just had to do it better.”
He said Foothills’ tough schedule – including battling two top-provincial teams in close loses in February —paid dividends in the pressure-cooker at home in the tournament final.
“Not being able to play Josh Pahl [back injury] a lot tonight hurt us so we needed guys to step up and they did,” Gwilliam said. “I don’t think anybody shot particular well, but they came through when it counted. Logan hit two huge threes down near the end.”
Sharp-shooter Jaxen Perrett was a bit off in the final, but made up for it with tenacious defence.
The final had a sense of déjà vu – the Griffins beat the Falcons in OT in the bronze medal game of last year’s tournament.
The Falcons opened the tournament with an 86-50 victory over the West Central Rebels Feb. 15. Defensive specialist and glass-cleaner Jared Sepkowski led the Falcons attack with 16 points.
Foothills advanced to the finals by downing St. Peter the Apostle Saints 76-50 in the semi Saturday afternoon. Hunter Boriskewich led the attack with 19.
The Falcons will host an exhibition game Feb. 22 against the Winston Churchill Bulldogs. The Falcons will then take on Father Lacombe at the Comp on Feb. 23. Both games start at 5 p.m.
They will then focus on zone in early March, which will feature the Holy Trinity Academy Knights, the George McDougall Mustangs and the Chestermere Lakers.
The Lakers gave the Griffins a scare at the Falcons Classic, losing an 88-84 decision in the semifinal.
