At the end of the 2018-19 season, the Fountain Hills High School boys basketball team has come “leaps and bounds” from where it started and head coach, Jeff Bonner, is excited for what the future has in store for the team if the guys stay on their current path.

The Falcons finished their season in the second round of the state tournament against Sabino, 75-52, giving them a final record of 10 wins and 16 losses.

Despite the loss not being the ideal ending to their season, Bonner believes that the playoffs have helped his team understand something he has been telling them all season, which is that they can play with the best teams out there.

“The guys see now, what I am telling them about the playoffs,” Bonner said. “Anytime, on any given day, we can go out and win. In the same round we lost, Gilbert Christian lost to Northwest Christian, who we have beaten in the regular season twice. We never came close to beating Gilbert Christian and that right there showed the guys what can happen when you’re committed to each other as a team.”

Overall, Bonner is pleased with how he and his team grew and bonded throughout the season.

“As a coach I am so happy with the progress we have made together,” Bonner said. “Starting with the fact I had 15 guys in the summer, to now having 30 guys in the program that tell me, ‘coach, we are committed to you and what you’re doing.’”

When Bonner took over head coaching responsibilities in June, he found that he had to prove himself to the team.

“Coming in I thought it was going to be wide open arms,” Bonner said. “But I kind of got a ‘come prove yourself’ look. You have to prove yourself in places you go; your record and resume won’t always do it for you.”

As both Bonner and the team were proving themselves to one another, the Falcons’ season got off to a seemingly solid start.

FHHS won two of its first three games, beating Mohave and Sierra Linda and losing to Sabino.

Then, after winning two games, the Falcons faced the toughest part of their season, a five-game losing streak.

From there, as the pieces started to fall into place for the Falcons, the team started to trade off just about as many wins as they did losses. Enough wins, in fact, to get them to the playoffs.

“I think we made up for it,” Bonner said. “I think we made up for it with how we rounded off the end of the season and also how the guys felt about each other by the end.”

Bonner gives a lot of credit to his senior players, Cole Lupien, Jackson Coup, Trainor Solum, Darrean Smith, Elijah Vargas, Bekim Kraya and Wesley Cottrill, for filling the important leadership roles throughout the season.

“Every single one of them had an impact on the program,” Bonner said. “Everyone I kept, I kept them for a reason and, as far as the leadership you get from seniors, they had it. They were committed to whatever I said. I couldn’t be happier with my senior group.”

Going into the offseason and gearing up for next winter, Bonner has a few things he would like to do differently.

“As far as coaching goes, I want to put a little more emphasis on respect,” Bonner said. “Respecting the officials, the other team, fans – that is something I want to pass to the players because it is the right thing to do. Additionally, I want to listen to the players more and understand what they are saying. I noticed this season I moved faster on something that I should’ve made sure the team knew.”

With a full offseason ahead of them and the experience of one season under their belt, the future looks bright for FHHS boys basketball.