Falcons take sole possession of Big 8 lead with win over Santa Rosa

With sole possession of the Big 8 lead on the line, the Santa Rosa Bear Cubs and Folsom Lake Falcons waged a terrific battle on Tuesday night at Falcon Gym, where the Falcons eventually wriggled free for a 67-62 victory.  The two teams entered the showdown in a virtual tie for first place and had circled this matchup on the schedule for weeks.  With two starters on the bench due to injury and eligibility issues, the shorthanded Falcons used a team approach that proved successful.  They continually made the extra pass to find the open man, then clamped down on defense to make life miserable for the Bear Cubs.  The Falcons took a 5 point lead (34-29) into the locker room at half, then built that lead to as much as 17 points midway through the second half.  The Bear Cubs began chipping away at the lead from the 10-minute mark and got it down to a 4-point game with 1:30 remaining to play, but could get no closer.  With the Falcons knocking down free throws down the stretch, they closed out the win to claim sole possession of first place in the Big 8.  With Santa Rosa focused on stopping FLC's leading scorer Pierce Rexford, freshman point guard Cameron Wall had his best game of the season with 24 points and ferocious defense.  Wall continually to drove through the Bear Cub defense for layups or to dish to an open teammate, creating open looks for Dane Johnson or Yaadvir Dhaliwal. 

For the first time in FLC basketball history, the Falcons are alone atop the Big 8 at 7-1.  They'll play at American River (2-4) on Friday, then face Santa Rosa (8-4) again on Saturday on the road.