The Falcons had a big year in 2014, boasting a pair of state champions in the girls basketball team and the girls soccer team.

Several other sports made it into post-season play, with individual awards aplenty being passed out to Fountain Hills High School athletes throughout the past 12 months for all-section and all-state honors.

Following is the second in a two-part series looking back at the past year in high school sports.

Golf

The Falcon golf season began in mid-March with a match against the team from Wickenburg, hosted out of the local Eagle Mountain Golf Club.

The local team took part in a total of 12 matches throughout the regular season, usually competing against multiple opponents and frequently finishing in the number one spot.

The local squad managed to qualify once again for state during the 2014 season, sending five representatives to the season-ending two-day Division III tournament hosted out of Antelope Hills in Prescott.

Griffin Peters, Lucas Johnson, Reece Bailey, Marjorie Glenn and Hank Allsop finished strong for the local squad, taking eighth place overall at state.

All told, head coach Jim Fairfield said the team finished at 28-8 on the season on a team-by- team basis.

Tennis

The high school tennis team wrapped up yet another successful season in May, sending nine athletes to take part in the individuals portion of the state tournament and both the boys and girls teams into the postseason.

Representing the Falcons in the individuals competition, consisting of matches that included solo and doubles competitions, were Tim Schlum, Jenny Fisher, Jena Serrano, Reid Sanchez, Ethan Green, Matt Seiwert, Taylor James, Lauren Nazarro and Meagan Coveney.

Schlum made it as far as the third round playing solo while doubles partners Serrano and Fisher took fourth place overall. Both the boys and girls teams exited the state tournament after tough first-round outings.

All told, the boys ended the season at 7-11 with a section record of 6-6. The girls wrapped up 2014 at 12-8 overall, 10-4 in section play.

Sand volleyball

It was another solid year for the high school sand volleyball team, going 6-4 throughout the season and making it all the way to the semi-final round of the state tournament.

The Falcons began their season with a loss to Queen Creek and a loss to Xavier before going on a three-game win streak against teams from Shadow Ridge, Willow Canyon and North Pointe.

A loss to Valley Vista in early April was quickly avenged by a win over St. Mary’s to cap off the regular season.

The Falcons bested St. Mary’s again in the opening round of the state tournament before toppling Valley Vista in the quarterfinals, a team that had beat the local squad earlier in the season.

The Falcon flock finally wrapped up the season in the semi-finals, losing to Scottsdale Prep.

Football

It was a back and forth season for the high school football team in 2014, pairing big moments with unfortunate breaks en route to a 5-6 season record.

The local squad did manage to make it to the state playoffs, but another evening of bad luck meant an early exit from the post-season tournament.

The Falcons began their season firing on all cylinders, crushing Coronado in front of the hometown crowd, 45-7, in late August.

The team kept right on rolling in week two, besting Florence on the road by a narrow margin, 28-20.

A reversed version of those first two games followed, with the Falcons losing to Coolidge by a narrow 25-22 before falling to Estrella Foothills 42-7 as the injuries started to roll in.

The Falcons added one more win to the board before a string of three late-season losses put a postseason berth in jeopardy.

A win over Globe at 42-7 did little to improve the Falcons’ standings, meaning they needed to defeat their final opponent of the regular season, Blue Ridge, to even have a chance at continuing on into the state tournament.

The Falcons pulled off a major upset, though, winning 24-14 to wrap up regular play.

It was a really big night for the local team, as it was the final home game for head coach Jim Fairfield, it was seniors night, and it was the first time the Falcons have bested Blue Ridge in 23 years.

Energized and ready to make a run on state, a series of injuries in the opening minutes of the first game of the tournament put the Falcons on the defensive.

Losing several key players, the team managed to stay close to their tough opponents from River Valley, going into the half at 21-14.

The boys in blue couldn’t keep up the momentum, however, finally losing and exiting state play at 60-14.

Volleyball

The 2014 season was a tough run for the high school volleyball team, competing against some stiff competition in order to go 15-16 after three months of play.

A late season shift in leadership also caused some turmoil, as the Falcons’ new coach, Christie Slegers, stepped down during the final weeks of play following an investigation into her credentials.

Through it all, however, the local ladies managed to stick together, going on a 3-5 section run that was, unfortunately, not quite strong enough to send them on to the state tournament.

The season began on a high note with the Falcons managing to topple Wickenburg at home by a final score of 3-1. That was followed by the Falcons’ first tournament of the season, going 3-6 through two days of play.

Back into regular play, the Falcons returned to high form, besting Coolidge 3-1 on the rad.

The first loss of the regular season came three nights later in a big 3-0 loss to the Florence Gophers in front of the hometown crowd.

Play bounced back and forth from that point on, with the local squad swapping wins for losses in order to put together a split final record.

Following back-to-back 3-0 wins over Cortez and Moon Valley, the Falcons’ season finally came to a close at home with a 3-0 loss to the team from Flagstaff.

Cross country

It was a big season for the high school cross country team as the local boys and girls cruised through more than two months’ worth of competitions, placed high in the sectional meet and went on to compete at the state event.

Having worked with the team for several seasons, Todd Brecto moved into the head coach position this season, helping guide the flock of Falcons onto another successful run.

The Falcons began the season with a bang, taking part in a collection of massive meets to get things rolling.

The year began with a unique three-person relay event at Saguaro before heading to a 37-team race in Chandler where the girls took second and the boys came away with a sixth place finish.

Week two saw the Falcons hosting their first home meet out of Fountain Park, with 35 schools and more than 1,000 athletes showing up for the event.

Kicking it up a notch, week three saw the Falcons hitting the road to Irvine, Calif., where they took part in the annual Woodbridge Classic. Races were broken down into classes due to the sheer number of participants, giving the Falcons a chance to experience top flight competition early on in the season.

Following many more successful runs, the Falcons took part in the sectional meet in late October, with the girls taking second place and the boys finishing fifth in a field of 16 teams.

Qualifying for state, the local team went on to run at Cave Creek Golf Course in the Division III run against 60-plus fellow squads. The girls ended the season in 14th place overall with the boys taking 19th.