The Fountain Hills High School boys basketball team remained at 8-0 after a lull this past week. The Falcons haven’t played since they beat Gilbert Christian 60-57 on Wednesday, Nov. 30, and they will challenge the reigning 2A state champions at 7 p.m. tonight.

The Falcons have a tough task to deal with tonight at Scottsdale Christian Academy (SCA). The Eagles are a new region opponent in 3A North Central, and the Falcons will host the rematch on Thursday, Feb. 2.

A few Falcon players went to watch SCA beat American Leadership Academy – Ironwood 85-68 last Monday, Dec. 6. The Eagles have talent, and no one is more highly touted than freshman Elijah Williams, the son of current Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams.

Williams is 6’6” and earned his first collegiate offer in middle school. He’s already collected offers from Washington, Missouri and Notre Dame, where his father played collegiate ball.

“A few guys went to their game [Dec. 6], and Monty Williams was at their game,” senior Ty Cosman said. “They blew out the 7th ranked team, and now people are saying SCA and Valley [Christian] are so much better that nobody else can compete with them, and I don’t think that’s true.”

Official rankings haven’t been released, but Cosman and several other Falcons get information on other teams from the Arizona Small Ball Podcast, a weekly podcast covering 1A-3A high school basketball. The Falcons were ranked No. 4 on the most recent podcast at the time of writing.

The Falcons trust themselves in every matchup and aren’t intimidated by the Eagles. The Eagles have another 6’5” freshman starter in Jacob Webber, but 10 of the 12 varsity Falcons are seniors.

“They’re really young, which is something we have on them,” Cosman said. “We’re all on the same page. We’ve been playing together for a long time. We know how each other plays, and honestly it just feels really good.”

The Falcons have been sharp to start the season. All five starters have shooting percentages at 50% or higher through the first eight games, and they are winning by an average point differential of 26 points.

Following tonight’s game, the Falcons have winter break and then the Coyotes Basketball Invitational from Dec. 28-30. The Falcons start 2023 with two road games on Jan. 3 and Jan. 10, and they’ll return home to host Wickenburg on Thursday, Jan. 12, at 7 p.m.