Good things come in threes, and that's certainly true for the Fillmore Falcons girls' basketball team.

The Falcons captured their third straight 1A provincial championship at HOOPLA in Saskatoon over the weekend, defeating fellow contenders Kenaston (76-55) and Bengough (69-29).

"The kids came to play," said Falcons' coach Greg Lendvay.

Kenaston proved to be a more difficult opponent than anticipated, although the Falcons maintained a good lead throughout the game; in the third quarter, said Lendvay, Kenaston managed to narrow their deficit from 20 points to just eight.

"They tightened the screws a little bit," he said.

Jessie Elias and Sarah Leguee scored more than 50 points for the Falcons, with Elias contributing 31 and Leguee contributing 21 points.

They were also the top scorers in Saturday's match with Bengough, with Elias scoring 23 points and Leguee scoring 28. Another MVP was Chansi Lynch, who effectively shut down much-hyped Bengough player Kimberly Craven, who was the team's top scorer.

However, the victory over Bengough was totally a team victory, said Lendvay.

"We put everything together that game. Every single one of my kids played just about as well as they could," he added.

So marks another provincial championship for the Falcons. Whether or not Fillmore will be as strong in the 2003-2004 season is too early to predict, said Lendvay, but a lot of it will depend on how much time the girls put into their game over the summer.

However, the team will at the very least hurt by the loss of their two Grade 12 students, Elias and Leguee.

"We definitely have some holes to fill," he said.