(GILBERT, Ariz.) Gilbert Christian fell to Fountain Hills 33-29 on Thursday evening. The Knights struggled early but came together in the end, outscoring the Falcons 18-8 in the fourth to bring the game within reach in the final minute.
Fountain Hills sits at 6-1 overall, and is the first-ranked squad in the 3A North Central Region. With the loss, GCHS drops to .500 at 2-2.
"There are some things from this game that we can be proud of, especially with how the girls didn't fold and fought back late," Head Coach Mark Duitsman said. "The game could have gotten away from us after the first few minutes, but it never did, despite our struggles to score. That says a lot about each of these girls just sticking with it when they could have given up. I am so proud of their resilience. That being said, we have to find ways to avoid slow starts and not make things so hard on ourselves."
The Knights were hot and cold in the affair, falling behind 14-6 after an inharmonious opening quarter. In the second, however, GCHS turned up the defensive effort, limiting the Falcons to just one basket and scoring five of its own points to bring the contest within five (11-16) at the break.
The offensive drought continued in the third for the Knights as the Falcons registered nine unanswered to take a 25-11 lead headed into the final period.
The fourth was a different story entirely, as GCHS cranked up the intensity and began to pressure on defense, which converted to offensive productivity. Sophomore Unesu Machiri, junior Melissa Johnson, freshman Alyssa Cervantez and freshman Lillie Duitsman all nailed from behind the arc down the stretch, and sophomore Tylee Fox hit a clutch jumper over two defenders in transition to bring the game within two at 28-30.
In the end, however, Fountain Hills held on, scoring a transition bucket of its own to record the 33-29 victory.
"This group is not going to run away from a challenge, and we will get there as a team," Duitsman said. "We are anxious to keep pushing forward while applying the lessons we are learning from games like tonight."
Machiri led the Knights offensively, with nine points.
Yuma Catholic is next up for Gilbert Christian. The road game has been moved to 11:00am on Saturday, January 6th.
-GO KNIGHTS-
