Fuqua School’s varsity boys basketball team finds itself in an unfamiliar situation compared to recent years after having completed the 2019 part to its 2019-20 schedule.

The Falcons have entered the new year with a 1-5 record after finishing 16-7 during the 2018-19 season, 15-3 in the 2017-18 season and 15-4 in the 2016-17 campaign.

In his second season as Fuqua’s head coach, Mike Edwards said, “We started out very strong in our scrimmages and the first half of our game against Brunswick (Academy), but we haven’t seemed to be in sync since our first game of the season. As the coach, I gotta find what is needed for us to be successful and get us back on track.”

The Falcons lost their season opener Nov. 25 at home against Brunswick Academy, 69-68, and they narrowly fell 58-55 in the Dec. 9 rematch in Lawrenceville. For their only win, the Falcons routed host Timberlake Christian Schools 83-31 on Dec. 10.

But those three games aside, Fuqua lost its other three contests by an average of 29 points. It lost 72-45 at Richmond Christian School on Dec. 3 and fell 71-42 at Eastern Mennonite School on Dec. 6. In their final 2019 contest, the Falcons visited Collegiate School in Richmond on Dec. 30 and returned home with a 69-38 defeat.

Edwards remains hopeful about his team’s prospects this season, though, and he’s identified at least one thing the Falcons need to do to initiate a turnaround.

“A major need is us as a team coming together and believing in one another,” he said. “I fully believe that we can come together and shake things up in our division. We have a lot of games left on our schedule and feel we can get hot and make a run.”

Fuqua opens its 2020 schedule by hosting Veritas School on Tuesday, Jan. 7, at 7 p.m.