The Foothills Falcons have crossed the bridge to the girls high school provincials.
Make that the Brooklynn Bridge.
Falcon senior guard Brooklynn Baker had 36 points which included seven threes in Foothills 99-73 victory over the Holy Trinity Academy Knights in the South Central zone Senior girls basketball final March 7 at the Comp.
“We were a little nervous tonight but I knew we could pull it off if we tried our hardest,” Baker said. “We’re not afraid to shoot threes — when you know, you know, just like any other shot.”
The Falcons set the tone early, at one time hitting three consecutive threes, two by Chloe Hunter followed by a Baker bomb as Foothills built up a 56-34 lead at halftime.
Hunter finished with 14 points, which included four three-pointers from about Hartell.
They kept the pedal to the metal when Hunter opened the second half with a three-point shot from the atrium to make it 59-34 in the opening ticks of the second half.
Grade 10 student Makayla Porteous finished with 10 points in the final.
“Mr. (Falcons coach Vince) Hunter tells us if we are open, just have confidence in your shot,” Porteous said.
The 26-point victory was surprising as the Knights had beaten the Falcons in November. A Christmas classic had Foothills winning by one in December.
“We went out and played like it could be our last game, but embracing it and loving it,” Vince Hunter said. “Know that when you look your teammate in the eye, you know you did your absolute best to compete.”
He said the smaller stature of the Falcons is one of the reasons they aren’t afraid to shoot from anywhere in the gym.
“We are almost always the smaller team on the floor,” the coach said. “We are committed to the idea that if we are open for the long bomb let it go, knowing the ball will come of hard for a long rebound.
“We maybe put up too many threes, but tonight we shot really well from the outside.”
HTA coach Scott Royce said his team kept its collective chin up throughout the game.
“That has been there mantra all season,” Royce said. “They have gone hard to the end, they never stopped, but Foothills’ shooting was amazing.
“I am really proud of the fact of the way Vince and I created a positive culture between the two schools.”
He complimented Baker for running out the clock with 35 seconds left — ignoring the partisan fans cry for 100 points.
The Knights showed some offence of their own. Senior Lauren Sinclair was on fire in the opening half with four threes.
HTA was hurt when the tenacious leader Sinclair fouled out early in the second half.
“We recognized what quality players Lauren and Gracie (McNichol) are,” Hunter said. “Part of our game plan was to take the ball to them really hard and try to get them in foul trouble.
“And they did that, which is hard to do because they are such great athletes.”
The players did some damage before fouling out. Sinclair had 16 points and McNichol, 17.
The Falcons will advance to the 4A provincials at Jasper Place High in Edmonton this weekend where they will be about a 12-seed in the 16-team tournament.
Coach Hunter said the Falcons might surprise some teams as they have played some of the top squads in Alberta tough.
It was the final high school game for Knights seniors Rachel Anderson, Sinclair, Tiana Miller and Jordan Bonertz.
Bonertz, a high school standout who missed the entire season due to knee injury, will play for the U of C Dinos next year.
She got on the floor for the final seconds of the Knights’ semifinal victory over the Chestermere Lakers and received an appreciative applause from the crowd on March 6.
