After an exhausting first week of play, the Fountain Hills High School boys basketball team is starting the abridged season strong with a 2-1 record.

The Falcons played their first game of the season on Jan. 19 against Payson and won the game 65-34.

Two days later, on Jan. 21, Fountain Hills hosted Benjamin Franklin and won that game by a score of 61-52.

The final game of the week was on Jan. 22 against Valley Christian. Fountain Hills lost the match 54-47.

FHHS basketball has another busy week lined up with another three games on the docket.

The first game was Tuesday, Jan. 26, against Northwest Christian. Their next game is Thursday, Jan. 28, against Eastmark. The final game of the week for the Falcons will be on Jan. 29 against Camp Verde.

Head coach Jeff Bonner said he was very pleased with the way his team played in its first outing of the 2021 season.

“Payson had a team that we matched up decently with,” Bonner said. “We knew that our guards were at least at their level, same with our bigs. We went out and played hard. I was very happy with how the guys executed offense; defensively, we can always get better.”

The Falcons were able to carry that energy into their next game against Ben Franklin and keep it up even when they lost one of their key players.

“I had faith in the guys that, if we are out there running the plays, we will be fine,” Bonner said. “The real thing that hurt us in that game was that was the game were Luke Giger hurt himself. I commend the guys because they did battled in that game. They could have thrown in the towel, but they found a way to rally around each other.”

Heading into the last game of the week, Bonner and his team knew that they had a hole in their roster without Giger.

“We went into it knowing that it was going to be a battle for us, having lost Luke Giger,” Bonner said. “He is one of the better go-after-it players on our team, which every team needs.”

It turns out that without Giger there to assist, it was difficult for the Falcons to reclaim rebounds and get more shot chances.

“We have our big in Quinton Langworthy, who is huge for us when it comes to blocking shots. But when you lose your Bash Brother, teams can single you out and keep you off the glass,” Bonner said. “I think we got discouraged and we lost our chances for a second and third shot.”

Bonner could also tell that fatigue played a role in the Falcons’ late-week loss, but he believes that the rigorous schedule will be helpful when it comes to conditioning for the state tournament.