Falcons fall to Warriors in regional opener

Posted February 20, 2017 10:00 pm

Chanda Green Contributing Writer

ELKVILLE – The Elverado Falcons first winning season since 1992 ended Monday night at the Class 1A Crab Orchard Regional semifinals when they lost to Steeleville, 66-49. But that doesn't take anything away from the team's incredible turnaround from last season's 0-25 record to this season, when they set the school record for number of wins, 21, and shared the South Egyptian Conference championship with Meridian and Cobden.

On Monday night, it was rough going from the start as the Falcons fell behind 16-5 by the second quarter. Steeleville was moving the ball quickly and Elverado was missing more baskets than they were making. By halftime, they had slipped farther behind as Steeleville pressed to lead Elverado, 35-16.

"We didn't shoot the ball very well in the first half, and it got us down early," said Head Coach Jacob Emling. "I'll take the blame for them getting such a big lead. I switched to a zone a little too quickly and they made some shots. But the boys never quit. They battled back and got it all the way to within nine points after being down 20."

In the second half, Elverado worked hard to pull their score up to 30 with some free throws by Johnson and a couple of great steals by Sarensen and Penn. But the third quarter ended with Falcons trailing by 15 and the writing was on the wall.

"Tonight was a tough loss for us," Coach Emling said. "One of our goals was to win a regional, and we fell short. But I'm proud of their effort tonight, and I'm proud of the work they put in all year. They have nothing to hang their heads about; they have had an outstanding year.

"I want to thank all of my seniors for their time and effort, and hopefully this challenges the underclassmen to keep working this summer," he said. "I also want to thank all of the fans that came out to all of the game. They boys fed off of their energy all year long. The entire community has been unbelievably supportive."