The Richard S. Fowler Falcons came through in the clutch for a championship repeat in the St. Albert Physical Education Council junior high basketball league.
In the tighter than expected Tier I city boys’ final, Fowler turned a four-point deficit in the second half into a two-point lead at quarter time before busting loose with five unanswered points early in the last period to defeat the Lorne Akins Gators 44-37 Tuesday at the SkyDome.
“We had to finish with intensity,” said Stefan Marano, a flashy Grade 9 guard who dropped a game-high 20 points on the Gators. “When we were down, we started scoring and scoring. We just turned on the switch and went to work.”
The fifth final in six years for Fowler was also the 20th win in 22 games while going 11-0 in the SAPEC season for back-to-back SAPEC banners.
“It means a lot for the school and it’s great for our team,” said Grade 9 post Max Hartman, the only returning Falcon in the lineup from the first championship squad since 2012.
Fowler, with 10 Grade 9s, one Grade 8 and one Grade 7 on the roster, was also the tournament winner of the Vincent J. Maloney pre-season lid-lifter, Boston Pizza Invitational, hosted by SAPEC, and the Fowler Classic.
The only two losses were with a depleted bench in both games at the Power of 3 in Spruce Grove.
“We just stuck to our game all season. We knew if we played our game we would beat every team. We had to be confident in our game and still stick with it even when it got down to the tight moments like tonight,” Hartman said. “It was an intense game and very physical. Both teams worked really hard.”
Fowler was caught off guard by the determined Gators especially after the teams opened league play with the 44-25 decision by the Falcons.
“We came out thinking this is going to be easy but it clearly wasn’t. We had to work harder for the win,” Marano said, noting there was “a little bit of pressure” hovering around the Falcons as the team to beat.
The Gators were anxious to play Fowler again.
“That first game we got pretty much blown out by them and we had this mentality throughout the whole season that we were going to get our chance,” said Seni Adekunle, a high-energy Grade 8 post for the Gators (9-2). “This was that big game but we didn’t finish. Our offence just wasn’t making shots.”
The surprising low-scoring affair resulted in period leads of 13-4, 20-19 and 31-29 for Fowler.
“Both teams played really good D so it was hard to get points. It was really a tight game,” said Marano, 14.
“It was just back and forth really hard defence,” Hartman added. “We just played with our feet on defence like our coaches (Clint Ludtke and Neil MacLeod) told us.”
A 10-point run by Fowler in the first quarter was highlighted by the first of two three-pointers by Marano in the final to make it 12-2 with 3:44 left until quarter time.
The Gators closed the gap on Fowler in the second quarter with consecutive three-pointers by Conner Boyd and Adekunle during a scoring surge leading up to Ronin Thompson’s go-ahead basket at 18-17 with 2:50 left in the first half.
The Gators also regained the lead at 19-18 on Adekunle’s free throw with 1:19 to go before halftime, 21-20 on Austin Walter’s basket to kick off the second half and a seven-point run on Walter’s three-pointer, two free throws by David Luu and Thompson’s basket left Fowler trailing 28-24.
Fowler replied with seven in a row on the strength of two Marano baskets, including a driving layup to go up 31-28 with 1:17 left before the quarter ended with a free throw by Malik Goa of the Gators.
“We came out strong and then we started playing their pace and we didn’t do so well,” said Marano, who tossed in eight points in the first quarter.
As for the turnaround, “It was just the intensity, working as a team, moving the ball around more and just getting better looks,” said Marano, who tacked up six of the team’s 13 points in the fourth quarter and the pivotal basket was the timely three-pointer with 6:20 to play that left the Gators scrambling down 36-29.
“That three by Stef was a big part of the game,” said Hartman, who produced nine points while locked in a spirited mano-a-mano duel with Adekunle.
“He’s a really aggressive player. He’s really good. It was a hard battle between us,” said Hartman, 15.
Adekunle, 13, accepted the challenge of going one on one with the big guy.
“In our league game he was really the guy who scored the most points and was really battling for the boards and my coach (Tim Russell) wanted me to do the hardest task and be on him,” Adekunle said.
Jack Hudson contributed seven points to the cause for Fowler while the Gators received offensive contributions from Adekunle, Thompson and Walter with eight points apiece.
Missed opportunities during critical junctures in the final proved to be the Gators’ downfall after the sluggish start to the final.
“We were down by 10 early and then our defence bought into what Mr. Dorn (the assistant coach) was saying. We got it back to like 18-17 for us in the second and we kept our intensity up and at halftime we were down by one. In the third quarter we had good defence, our offence was rolling and we had good ball movement, but in the fourth quarter our defence was tired, people weren’t really buying in and I wasn’t making shots myself and we just lost it down the stretch,” said Adekunle, who rattled off a variety of stuffs, rejections and tipped shots with an enthusiastic defensive display.
“It was a really hard-fought battle.”
