By Nina Gurley

The Firestone Falcon Boys Basketball team has an exciting season opener in “The Nest'' against the Highland Hornets. Since their first game, the falcons have had some tough losses but also had some exhilarating wins. Their first win in the Nest was a blowout game against the North High School Vikings. The Falcons outscored the Vikings 81 to 25 with some notable performances by Jonathan White, Amir Hubbard, and Lamar Dampier. Next, the Falcon took on their city rival, the Buchtel Griffins. The atmosphere in the gym was set up perfectly with a lot of school spirit coming from both sides. There was high intensity after the JV Falcon team beat the JV Griffins. Both varsity teams started off strong out the gate but, after the Falcons went into the second half down, they struggled to pull themselves back up. Unfortunately, the Falcons just got too far behind and couldn’t pull out the win. Fortunately, their next home game was against the Garfield Rams. There was a tough battle but they were able to fight to the end and win. The Falcons scored 54 points to Ram's 40 points. Their season has just started and we are already very excited to see what their season will look like.

The fighting lady falcons basketball team has been off to a great start for the 22-23 season! The lady falcons are being led by team captains Aalivia Mullins and Kiara (Keke) Smith this season. So far the team has a 5-3 record. One of the recent games the falcons played was against the lady Orangemen of Ellet High School. Our girls fought hard but unfortunately they had a tough loss with the score being 60-41. The lady falcons have been performing well so far and the rest of the season seems to be heading in the same direction. Go Stone!

The 2022-23 Firestone bowling season started on a roll! Beginning with a win from the girls over the Our Lady of the Elms and Garfield Highschool. The boys came up just short in their game against Garfield. The team is led by two new coaches: Mr. Persinger and Mr. Westphal. The coaches went around the school putting up posters hoping to attract students to join the team. The number of students that showed up at the informational meeting was a great surprise. The original plan was for a varsity-only team, but with a large number of students, they were able to push for a junior varsity team as well. The team is currently practicing at Riveria Lanes, where most matches are held.

Their recent success in the girl's team has been led by Soraya Brinson, Iyana Shade, and Taylor Blackmon who reached an all-time high of 140 in the match against Garfield. The team has been led by a lifetime bowler and a Firestone teacher, Mr.Persinger. He started bowling when he was 6 years old and has a passion for helping others which led him to make the decision to lead the team. The other coach is Firestone Mr.Westphal, he has less history, but just as much passion. Westphal also coach to boys' golf team and spoke about how different it is, but pouring with support. Both coaches have a positive outlook on the 2022-2023 season. Go Stone!