Calvary Chapel Boys’ Basketball Nears Rarefied Air

Tuesday marked a milestone of sorts for the Calvary Chapel boys’ basketball team.

The Eagles had achieved one of their season’s goals: They were ranked No. 6 in the Orange County sportswriters’ poll. That evening, Calvary Chapel beat Santa Ana Valley, 74-57, a school three times its size, to improve its record to 7-2.

Calvary Chapel, which plays at El Modena tonight, has made a steady, four-year climb with Coach Craig Falconer, who is 64-28 overall.

The Eagles are achieving success the hard way, by playing some of the best large schools in the Southern Section. Their two losses were in last week’s Tournament of Champions, where the Eagles fell to Antelope Valley in overtime, 71-66, and to Villa Park, 56-55, Orange County’s fourth-ranked team.

Calvary Chapel already has defeated two of the county’s better teams, Esperanza and Brea Olinda, and on Jan. 7 the Eagles meet Mater Dei at the Bren Center. Last season, the Eagles gave the top-ranked Monarchs all they could handle before losing by 11.

“Craig is doing a really good job with that team,” Mater Dei Coach Gary McKnight said. “He’s not afraid to play people a lot bigger than his school is. It’s a way to build the program. He can show people that they can beat good teams by entering top tournaments.”

Calvary Chapel, with an enrollment of 680, hasn’t received much respect from pollsters in last seasons; that’s what made getting into the top 10 so sweet.

“It was a motivator for us,” said guard Kevin Falconer, Craig’s son. “One of our goals was to be ranked in the county. We thought last year, maybe at one point, we should have been ranked.

“This is great because we were thinking that no one knew about us. They probably think we don’t play big schools. But this summer we turned some heads. We played a lot of tough teams. We need to stay ranked and do well in tournaments.”

A year ago, the Eagles had a 23-5 record and advanced to the semifinals of the Southern Section Division IV-A playoffs, where they lost to Santa Monica Crossroads.

Four starters and six reserves returned this season. Point guard Kevin Falconer leads the team, averaging 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Guard Joe Ortiz, whom Craig Falconer calls “the best junior in Orange County,” averages 17 points.

Junior forward Garid Beeler is averaging 14 points, and senior center David Cutler averages 10 rebounds. Garden Grove transfer David Williams, a 6-5 forward and All-Garden Grove League selection last season, has added to the team’s depth, which also includes forwards Noah Thompson and Patrick Dinnie.

“We have defined roles on this team, much like what has worked well for Gary McKnight at Mater Dei,” Craig Falconer said. “Kevin leads the way. When we go down the floor, I want the ball in his hands. By defining roles for the kids, everyone understands what is expected of them and they have accepted that.”

Falconer hasn’t been bashful in giving every player the green light from three-point range. The Eagles average between 15 and 25 three-point attempts per game. In the loss to Villa Park, Ortiz had six three-point baskets; Cutler made three.

Calvary Chapel knows how to take care of the ball too. The Eagles have averaged just under eight turnovers a game; their opponents have averaged twice that.

“We feel like we can play with anybody,” Craig Falconer said. “We like that challenge. I like it from a coaching standpoint--playing these top teams, rather than going against smaller Christian schools that don’t prepare you for the playoffs.”

As Calvary Chapel, defending Olympic League champion, rolls on, it will do so with one eye on the rankings. Cutler claims the Mater Dei game will “make or break our ranking.”

“We’ve got some respect now,” he said. “We didn’t get what we felt we deserved in the past.”