Photo by Paul Trende
It is one thing to score your 1,000th career point in a game. It is another to do, then make a couple big plays to propel your team to victory. FC senior Luke Hellickson did just that as the Falcons (14-9) took on Kingsland (16-5) in a notable 1A battle. The Knights exerted their will early. Strong senior Courtland Drury-DeBoer had 16 first half points. The Knights were more physical in taking a 35-28 lead to half. FC then hit four threes early in the second half to take a 43-42 lead. Hellickson drilled a triple out of intermission for his 1,000th point. Down the stretch, the game went back-and-forth. Knights Jayden Brink and Max Erdman alternated scoring eight points without missing a shot. FC hit its last nine three throws. Hellickson hit a deep three to put FC up 62-59 (1:27). A few seconds later, he broke the press for a layup to make it 64-59 (0:24). A Knight turnover made it academic. FC prevailed 66-61. Hellickson (19 pts, 3-11 threes, 6 rebs) and Jayce Kiehne (14 pts, 6-8 FTs, 5 rebs) led the way. Greg Kennedy (8 pts, 8 rebs, 7 asts), Kyle Daniels (9 pts), and Josh Haugerud (9 pts, 5 rebs) helped. Drury-DeBoer (18 pts, 5-5 FTs, 8 rebs), Brink (14 pts), and Erdman (12 pts, 16 rebs) led the Knights. FC was 8 of 26 (31%) from deep, Kingsland 5 of 20 (25%). The Falcons won at the free throw line 16 of 24 (67%) to 12 of 16 (75%). FC’s last 1,000-point boys scorer was 10-plus years ago (Jordan Jarland) prior to classmates Kiehne and Hellickson doing so.