Luke Falcons host basketball tournament

  • Published
  • By JAMAL WILLIAMS
  • Luke varsity basketball coach
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Labor Day weekend the Luke Falcons and Lady Falcons basketball teams welcomed six military teams for the opening tournament of the military basketball season. The teams included Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Vandenberg AFB, Calif., Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, Calif., Cannon AFB, N.M., and Camp Pendleton Marine Base, Calif. The men's teams competed in a two-game round robin, which determined who went to the championship. 

The Falcons opened the tournament against Miramar. After a tightly contested first half, the Falcons pushed ahead in the last minutes to take a 28-22 lead. With the Falcons' defense and rebounding, they were able to build a 14-point lead in the second half and won 60-49. The Falcons were led by Stefan Nichols scoring 14 points and Jeff Ragin who chipped in 12. 

The Falcons closed out Saturdays' games by facing Vandenberg. The Falcons maintained a good start, but Vandenberg was able to hang in trailing by one point at halftime, 37-36. In the second half, the Falcons allowed Vandenberg to take a nine-point lead with ten minutes left in the game. Timely scoring from Falcon guard Charlie Taylor, racking up 22 of his 32 points, kept the Falcons going in the second half. Vandenberg closed out the game hitting eight of 10 freethrows allowing Vandenberg to take the game 82-76. 

Clearly disappointed from Saturday's loss, the Falcons opened Sunday's championship round against Cannon. The Falcons jumped out 21-8 within the first eight minutes of the game and cruised to an 85-65 victory. Stefan Nichols led the Falcons with 15 points and Jeff Ragin added 14 points. 

In the semifinal round, the Falcons faced a determined rival the Las Vegas Heat from Nellis. Nellis used a pressure defense forcing the Falcons into 18 first-half turnovers. But the Falcon's ability to match Nellis' intensity allowed them to hold a 35-34 lead at the half. 

In the second half, another scoreless run hit the Falcons midway through the half as Nellis was able to take a nine-point lead. Continuing to battle Nellis, the Falcons cut the point gap to three after a 3-point play and a layup off a steal by Falcon guard David Mebane. Nellis closed out the game with 6-for-6 from the free throw line and took the game 75-71 knocking the Falcons from the tournament. 

In the championship game, Camp Pendleton used their deep bench and hard-nosed style to defeat Nellis, 91-75, to win the tournament championship. 

The Lady Flacons played in a best-of-three series against Nellis' Lady Heat, as part of the Luke/LV Heat Women's Challenge. The first game, the Lady Falcons were unable to generate much offense while shooting under 30 percent for the first half. This allowed Nellis to take the lead 23-22 at the half. In the second half, Lady Falcon point guard Tamika Daniel poured in 20 of her game-high 26 points allowing the Lady Falcons to pull away with the victory 53-44. 

In the second game of the series, the Lady Falcons fell behind 2-9 early in the game. After a timeout, the ladies turned up the intensity and closed the half on a 37-20 roll. The second half produced some struggles offensively, as the Lady Falcons went on an eight-minute scoreless run allowing Nellis to cut the lead to eight. But a pull-up jumper and 3-pointer by Heather Wyatt extinguished Nellis' comeback. Led by Wyatt, the Lady Falcons went on to win 53-46. 

With the first game wrapped up, the Lady Falcons were determined to complete the sweep of Nellis. Both teams had difficulty scoring in the first half due to solid defense from both sides, but the Lady Falcons closed the half 23-17. In the second half, with solid team defense and Tamika Daniel hitting timely 3-pointers, the Lady Falcons completed the sweep winning 52-45 and securing the championship.