Falcons cruise to third

Falcon was in high gear Tuesday while claiming third place in the Rampart Tip-Off Classic with a convincing 80-65 victory over the host Rams.

“First place would’ve been better but it was a good win. We wanted third place,” said Falcon junior Lewis Baumann, who led all scorers with a career-high 28 points.

Arapahoe, which beat Falcon, lost to Eaglecrest 56-51 in overtime in the championship.

Falcon (3-1) got 23 points from 6-foot-5 junior Adam Link, who also had 11 rebounds and three blocks. Link had eight points and Baumann nine as Falcon raced to a 23-13 lead after one period.

“We love to run but it’s kind of like driving a sports car,” said third-year Falcon coach Roy Vieux. “It’s not just about hitting the gas. You’ve got to brake, turn, learn to shift. Our patience isn’t quite there yet. But if we’re hitting on all cylinders, we’re pretty good.”

Link said he expects the Pikes Peak No. 10 Falcons to challenge No. 3 Widefield and Fountain-Fort Carson for Class 4A Metro Conference honors.

“If the pieces fall together, we could be really good,” said Baumann, who made all five of his shots for 11 points in the fourth quarter.

Senior Gabriel Jackson (10 points), junior John Kniest (eight) and junior Onorio Franco (six) fill out the Falcons’ starting lineup that combined to make 30 of 57 shots, plus 14 of 16 free-throw attempts.

No. 7 Rampart (1-3) was led by senior Eric Bandt, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half. Junior Justin Matoke (10 points) and junior Jeff Karlik (eight) combined to make 8 of 10 shots. Junior Devin Mohn scored eight in the final three minutes.

Third-year Rams coach J’on St. Clair, who was at Falcon before going to Class 5A Rampart, said his team is searching for its identity. He used all 15 players, 11 in the first half, while substituting liberally.

“We’re trying to find out what are good combinations,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of talented kids. We still need to figure out who can play where.”

St. Clair took no solace in the fact that it’s just the second week of the season.

“This was very disappointing,” he said. “I knew some of those kids when I was at Falcon. We just didn’t match their intensity.”

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