The Falcons had a big year in 2016, including state championships for both the girls soccer and volleyball teams.

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

Look for part two in next week’s issue of The Times.

Girls soccer

Going 9-0 in section play, 16-7 overall, earning the section title and the state crown means that the Lady Falcons of the high school soccer squad had a standout season in 2015-16, though head coach Alison Mabery said that it took some hard work to pull things together in the end.

Mabery said that the Lady Falcons lost a few games that they had an opportunity to win but, as soon as the big tournament hit, the girls were playing their best soccer of the season.

On the way to that state championship, Leah Carillo set a new school record for the most assists of a single season with 25. Carillo also finished with the second most goals of the season with a total of 16.

Earning the most goals in 2015-16 was Erika Yost, who scored a big 21 nets while providing eight assists. Senior Madi Blaes and junior Danica Kerr led the team’s defense, Mabery added.

Boys basketball

It was a back and forth year for the boys basketball team in 2015-16, as the Falcons got used to a new program with a young group of players.

According to head coach Brad Weber, however, the local squad learned a lot on the road to its 4-6 season showing (6-12 overall), with signs of possible greatness shining through at the end of the run.

The 2015-16 season began on a high note as the Falcons dominated Santa Cruz Valley 80-63. Another win against Apache Junction by a final score of 86-68 the following night appeared to be setting a positive tone for the rest of the season.

Unfortunately, the losses started to trickle in throughout December, eventually building to a lopsided season with double the number of games in the loss column.

The local squad didn’t earn a trip to state, but they still ended on a high, winning three games in a row against Payson (68-38), Youngker (53-51) and Bradshaw Mountain (53-48).

Girls basketball

When the 2015-16 girls basketball season kicked off, head coach Mandy Baca referred to her ladies as “the nasty nine.” With a roster of less than a dozen players, only one of which was a senior and the majority of the rest being freshmen, that’s exactly what they had to be.

They were certainly a scrappy bunch and, even though they didn’t make it to the state tournament, they put up quite a fight trying to make it into the post season.

The 2015-16 season began with a big loss to the team from Mesa with the Lady Falcons falling behind 63-20. They bounced back quickly, though, going on to best Catalina Foothills 38-26 in the very next outing.

Play bounced back and forth through the remainder of the season, with the ladies trading an equal number of victories with defeats leading up to the 60-41 season closer against Agua Fria in early February.

The season came to a close at 7-5 in section play and an even 9-9 overall.

According to Baca, her young ladies went through some tough trials over the course of the season and, looking ahead, she thought it would only make them stronger.

Wrestling

Going 29-3 in team duals this past year, sending 10 athletes to the state tournament and having five come back with medals, according to head coach Luke Salzman, made for a fantastic season for the high school wrestling squad.

“Two of those losses came from two very close duals against Division II Cactus Shadows,” Salzman said, further driving home how well the team did in 2015-16.

After such a big run through the regular season, a handful of guys earned high standings at the state tournament. Parker Kauffman took second place in his division, the highest finish of any Falcon this season. Daniel Butler, Kainoa Reid, Max Jordan and Chris Hernandez also stood on the awards podiums at the end of the run.

According to Salzman, this shows the depth of talent the Falcons had on the roster last season.

Boys soccer

It was a tough year for the high school boys soccer team, with the Falcons going 1-6 in section play, 1-11 overall. Still, head coach Matt Pugliano said the local squad learned a lot in 2015-16.

The year began with the boys soccer squad taking part in the Cactus Cup Tournament in early December.

Heading into the regular season, it wasn’t until Dec. 15 that the Falcons earned their first and only win of the season, besting Scottsdale Christian Academy by a final score of 4-2.

The Falcons battled through to a final showdown against Seton Catholic on Jan. 26, wrapping up their run with a 5-2 loss on the road.

According to Pugliano, the Falcons knew going into the season that, with only three returning starters, 2015-16 would be a rebuilding year.

Golf

The high school golf season wrapped last spring with the local squad managing an 18-13 showing over the course of three months.

Head coach Willie Dudley had a pretty large roster on his hands this past season, but many of this year’s athletes were new to the sport of golf. Still, as the team gained experience, Dudley added that the scores started to show some positive results for all of that hard work.

“We started the season slow,” Dudley said. “As the season went on, the golfers played better and better. We ended up shooting our best score on the last week of competition.”

Dudley said he enjoyed the 2015-16 season, as well as the squad that helped make it a success.

Tennis

The high school tennis squad underwent a few changes this year, including welcoming new head coach David Phillips to the flock, as well as moving practices and competitions to the courts at CopperWynd.

The local athletes took well to the shifts, though, putting together a solid string of matches that saw several athletes and the girls team continue on into the state tournaments.

As a team, the girls made it all the way to the semifinals of post-season play with David Rothweil battling through the competition to take second in singles for the boys.

According to coach Phillips, there was a lot to be proud of in 2015-16. After all was said and done, the local ladies finished the regular season second in their section with an impressive 6-1 record. The boys enjoyed similar success, going 6-2 in section to take second as well.