The Fountain Hills High School boys basketball team continues to roll. The Falcons only had one game last week, and they defeated Benjamin Franklin 53-46 on Senior Night to continue their win streak to five in a row.

The Falcons have five seniors on the roster. Jayden Mitchell had a great shooting night and led all Falcons with 15 points. Xavier Mike and Alex Rieck scored four points each, with Jared Reichler and Zack Langer not making it on the board.

The seniors were under bright lights, but the Falcons had to play as a team to win. Seven players scored points for Fountain Hills, and three were in double digits. Mitchell made four three-pointers on his way to 15 points, and sophomore Mitchell Perkins was right behind him with 14 points. Sophomore guard Keaton Ort scored 10 points, and his three-pointer gave the Falcons the lead with 1:22 left to play.

“That's my first varsity three at home,” Ort said. “I had three or four at Payson but that's my first home one. It felt really good, especially late in the game to give us the lead and get the crowd all back into it.”

The Falcons led by six points at halftime and led by four points going into the fourth quarter. The Falcons led almost the entire game, but they struggled to put Benjamin Franklin away for good. Senior Ethan Evangelista made three three-pointers in the fourth quarter for Benjamin Franklin, giving the Chargers their first lead since the first quarter.

Benjamin Franklin tied the game 41-41 with 4:42 left, and they took a 46-43 lead with 3:20 remaining. Xavier Mike missed his shot, but Mitchell Perkins grabbed the offensive rebound and put it in for two points. Ort took a charge on defense to get the ball back, but the Falcons looked a little confused. They reset after the ball went out of bounds, and Ort moved to the top of the key. As soon as the ref blew his whistle, the ball was passed to Ort for a catch and shoot three-pointer to give the Falcons a 48-46 lead.

“We were just talking in the locker room, actually, about how I think that Keaton is so clutch,” Mitchell said. “I will tell you that this kid doesn’t need to be humble about it. He will knock it down and he will make big plays for us. That’s why I respect him, and I think that’s why he’s playing big minutes for us.”

After regaining the lead, the Falcons put on some additional heroics to secure the win. Junior Luke Bloedel had a block, a bucket and one made free throw in the last 30 seconds of play. Perkins rebounded the missed free throw and got it to Ort, who was fouled again. Ort made two free throws for the last points of the night.

Falcon head coach Jeff Bonner called the loss to Benjamin Franklin four seasons ago on his first senior night a “beatdown.” This year, the Falcons got a little redemption, but Bonner didn’t tell his players, who weren’t here then.

“I didn't hear anything,” Mitchell said. “All I heard was that we just wanted to come in and do our thing and just turn it up and turn up the intensity straight from the get-go. I didn't hear anything about any animosity towards the other team or anything like that.”

Mitchell played varsity basketball his freshman year for Cicero – Great Hearts. Because of transfer rules, Mitchell’s first season with Fountain Hills was last year, his junior year. The way the Falcons are feeling and playing so far this season, Bonner said they don’t need to add fuel to the fire with rivalries or grudges.

“That's not how we win games,” Bonner said. “We win games based off of us doing our scouts, playing the team for who they are, and then coming out and executing as best we can. Today it was a little chaotic at times, but at the end of the day, we did what we needed to do to win the game defensively.”

The Falcons’ last game of 2021 was this past Monday, Dec. 13, against San Tan Foothills. The Falcons played after publishing, but they will return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, at 7 p.m. The Falcons host Payson, and then the Falcons host ALA – Ironwood on Friday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m.