The Fountain Hills boys basketball team added two more region wins last week over Northwest Christian and Wickenburg, moving their record to 14-4 and 3-0 in 3A North Central. The Falcons faced one of their biggest challenges of the season in Camp Verde on Tuesday, Jan. 25, after press time.

The Falcons and Camp Verde are neck and neck in the standings for the North Central region championship. The top two teams from each region advance to the state tournament, so the matches between Fountain Hills and the Cowboys will most likely determine who gets home court advantage for the playoffs.

As of Monday, Jan. 24, the Arizona Interscholastic Association (AIA) has Camp Verde ranked the No. 2 team in 3A, and Fountain Hills is ranked No. 5. The Falcons were ranked No. 3 in AIA on Wednesday, Jan. 19, but they fell in the rankings because Wickenburg forfeited to the Falcons on Thursday.

The Falcons have serval reasons for being a top-five team, but it mostly comes down to the leadership and versatility of the players. Senior Xavier Mike was in the top 25 scorers of 3A until recently with 13.4 points per game, and he is second in all of 3A with six assists per game as of Monday, Jan. 24.

“My main goal is us winning and coming out with the dub,” Mike said. “I just choose the easiest route. If I can hit the jumper, I’ll shoot it. If it’s open at the three, then I’ll pull it. If I see someone coming up on me, and there’s an extra pass I can give, I give it up rather than taking my own shot first. I know if I make good plays, stuff will come back to me later in the game.”

The Falcons’ second leading passer, junior Aiden Logan, is also in the top 10 for assists in 3A. Logan is in ninth place and is averaging 4.1 assists per game.

Mike is currently shooting nearly 50% in both 2-pt (49 %) and 3-pt shooting (46%). Mike has recorded two double doubles in seven games, and he also averages 2.1 steals and 4.4 rebounds per game. The Falcons’ leading rebounder, sophomore Mitchell Perkins, is averaging 7.9 per game and is in 10th place for rebounds in 3A. Perkins is also ranked in the top 10 of 3A for blocks with 1.4 per game.

The Falcons have two more players ranked in the top 25 for blocks per game in 3A. Junior Luke Bloedel is ranked sixth with 1.7 blocks per game, Perkins is ranked eighth, and senior JT Mitchell is ranked 21st with .9 blocks per game.

The Falcons crushed Northwest Christian 50-28 on the road on Tuesday, Jan. 18. The Falcons’ defense continued to pester opposing teams, but according to Mike, their offense wasn’t great in the first half. In the second half, the Falcons shot the ball better and they were able to find more open looks.

The Falcons, and especially Mike, were looking forward to the first match with Camp Verde this year. Mike remembers dueling with Camp Verde’s starting point guard Chino Salas-Zorrilla in the summer league last year and head coach Jeff Bonner remembers Zorrilla scoring 27 the last time he came to Fountain Hills. This season, Zorrilla is averaging 23.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 3.2 steals per game.

Zorilla and the Cowboys are sure to be tough competition, but the game brings the Falcons one step closer to their goal. The Falcons have talked since last summer about winning the state championship, and if everything goes according to plan over the next two and a half weeks, the Falcons are looking at a high seed entering the playoffs.

“The real thing that we remind the guys of more than anything, is the process we started back in the spring,” Bonner said. “We talked about it and talked about it, now it’s time to be about it. Not only with our actions as far as speaking it, but with the actions as far as what we’re doing in preparation for everything we do.”

The Falcons are spending more time studying film and preparing for high stake games as the regular season winds down. After Camp Verde, the Falcons have seven more games until they travel to Camp Verde for the last game of the regular season on Friday, Feb. 11.

This Thursday, Jan. 27, the Falcons will travel to Eastmark for their last non-region game at 7 p.m. This Friday, the Falcons host Chino Valley at 7 p.m., and they will be on the road again next Monday, Jan. 31, to take on Bourgade Catholic at 7 p.m.