The Fountain Hills High School boys boys team is rolling right now. The Falcons won their fourth straight game after falling behind by 11 points last Friday night, Dec. 3, against Gilbert Christian.

The last two wins have been huge for the Falcons. Last Tuesday, Nov. 30, Fountain Hills defeated rival Payson 74-27 on the road. The Falcons were motivated by the rivalry, and they also fed off the energy that came with Xavier Mike’s first start of the season.

The senior point guard is the leader on the court that the Falcons waited on during the first week of the season. Mike energized the Falcons and played a crucial role in the Falcons’ 56-54 win over Gilbert Christian last Friday night.

According to head coach Jeff Bonner, Mike is still feeling the effects of COVID on his lungs. Mike missed the beginning of the season due to quarantine, but he scored a team-high 14 points against Gilbert Christian last Friday night.

“It took all of us as a team and never putting our heads down,” Mike said. “Never negative thoughts, always positive energy. It’s all the family on the bench, and we just come together on the floor and listened to what we had to do and executed.”

The Falcons did not play tight defense in the first half and let Gilbert Christian gain a lead through three-point shooting. The Knights made three straight treys and Bonner called a timeout with 3:28 left in the first quarter. The Falcons were down 11-6 and fought to end the first quarter down 17-12.

The Falcons let the deficit double, and they were down 31-20 at halftime. Bonner spent the break trying to get his team to play the defense he’s been coaching, and the Falcons did so by limiting Gilbert Christian to three scoring treys during the second half.

The Falcons had a tall task in front of them, and they slowly chopped it down. The Falcons pulled within three points late in the third quarter, but Gilbert Christian hit a few baskets, including a three-pointer, and the Knights led 47-37 at the end of the third quarter.

The Falcons accepted Bonner’s challenge to be versatile and made plays everywhere during the fourth quarter. Senior Alex Rieck started the quarter with two back-to-back impressive plays. Rieck drove through traffic for two points, and on the defensive end, Rieck blocked a pass. The Falcons got the ball to sophomore Keaton Ort on a fast break, and he made both free throws after a foul. Gilbert Christian called a timeout after the free throws, only up 54-50 with 3:26 left in the final quarter.

After another defensive effort, R ieck got two more points in transition off a half-court pass from Mike. Ort tied the game 54-54 with 2:04 left to play with a steal and fast break layup. The home crowd erupted, and Gilbert Christian had to call a timeout.

“Offensively, [Rieck] is getting better every single day to kind of be that offensive threat,” Bonner said. “We’re out getting the ball to him, and he’s one of our best ones catching and then going to finish. Alex knows what he’s doing and did it multiple times.”

Rieck finished with 12 points, and sophomore Mitchell Perkins scored 10 points. Ort’s tying layup gave him eight points, but the game was decided by junior Aiden Logan, who only scored three points on Friday. Logan took a charge on the defensive end with 32 seconds to play, and then Logan made an assist to Mike for the winning basket.

“[Logan’s] pretty new to the program, and he started off telling me, ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to take a charge because it’s a long way for me to go down,’” Bonner said. “To see him wall up and take that charge, I know it took him putting his pride aside. I will say just taking a charge is one of the biggest plays in basketball because it gives a team foul, you get the ball, and you get your team very excited. On top of that, it shows that he’s bought in.”

Logan said that the Falcons have been taking their practices seriously recently, and that they were locked in for Gilbert Christian. The next test for the Falcons will be today, Wednesday, Dec. 8. The Falcons host Benjamin Franklin High School at 7 p.m. for Senior Night, and there’s a little bit of history between the two teams. When Mike, Rieck and the four other seniors were freshman, Benjamin Franklin spoiled Senior Night for their seniors. The Falcons hope to get their fifth straight win and avoid that outcome this year.