Lady Falcons place 2nd in basketball championship

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class David Owsianka
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  The Lady Falcons took to the court Saturday and Sunday during the double elimination Pacific West League championship tournament at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The team finished the tournament in second place after falling short in the finals 86-78 against the Las Vegas Air Force Base Heat.

Going into the tournament as the No. 2 seed, Luke faced off against the Los Angeles AFB Storm.

After a shaky start for the Thunderbolts, they pulled it together with 14:27 left in the first half and tied it a couple minutes later. Once the game was tied, the team took control
and never looked back going into halftime with a 42-37 lead.

Luke dampened the Storm with full court defensive pressure and good ball movement to hold onto their lead in the second half taking the game 76-56.

The gym heated up during the second game as the Luke Falcons faced Las Vegas. Each team came out firing away unable to stop the other offensively. Both opponents made key defensive plays throughout the game making it hard for either team to build a lead (largest lead during the game was six). The Heat won 90-83.

After falling to the Heat, the Lady Falcons had to get past the Camp Pendleton team in the semi-finals to make it to the championship. Although defense depicted most of the first half, Luke put together an 11-point lead going into half time with a 34-23 lead. Luke started the second half with a 6-0 run and never looked back building a 20-point lead with 13:07 remaining. Luke won 65-44.

After making it to the championship, Luke had to defeat the Heat in back-to-back games
to take home the title.

Both teams opened the first game off slow, until the momentum began to shift in favor of the Heat midway through the first half. Las Vegas built an 11-point lead before Luke ended the first half on a 6-0 run to tighten the game at 41-36.

Each side came out firing in the second half, with the Thunderbolts able to bring the game within two (51-49) 3 and a half minutes into the half. Luke stepped it up on both ends of the court, playing tough defense and making key buckets to stay in the game and take their first lead with 10:06 left. Luke held onto the lead, winning 93-77 and forced a second game.

Tired from playing two hard fought games prior to the second game of the finals, the Thunderbolts were tired.

"We played our hearts out in the first game," Burton said. "We need to fight through being tired and capitalize on their weaknesses."

The final game started similar to the first game with both teams having a slow start, until the Heat sunk consecutive three-pointers giving them a 10-point lead (21-11). Unable to build any momentum, the Heat went into half-time with a 41-30 lead.

Luke came out cold and was unable to get any drive at the start of the second half, with Las Vegas taking advantage building a 17-point lead with 16:28 left.

Midway through the second half, the Thunderbolts began to put a run together (12-2) tightening the game to 61-53 with 10:31 remaining. Luke continued to chip away at the Heat's lead making it a one possession game (65-62) with 6:08 left.

Luke was unable to take the lead due to turnovers as the Heat ramped up their lead to 10 and cruised to the end of the game wining 86-78.