Author: Anthony Ray

Mountain Pointe High School new and successful veteran head coach Hoseah Graham will get a nice lift to his program on Wednesday in his team’s match-up with Desert Ridge HS, as talented and athletic 6-foot-7, 220-pound senior forward Chris Davis makes his return to the basketball court. Chris Davis Super Highlight Reel – Arizona’s Finest Mix Tape Davis is among the top overall prospects in Arizona’s loaded 2014 class, but became academically ineligible for the start to the season.  Now back and ready to go academically, Davis looks prepared to finish off the remaining games of the season with a strong…

Read More

The wait is finally over, in what was the most anticipated match-up of high school basketball opponents in the state of Arizona since 2009.  In 2009, then top-ranked St. Mary’s High School faced top-rated and defending state champion North High School in a regular season match-up that North would win in fine fashion.  While Saturday evening’s match-up between two-time defending Division-I state champion Corona Del Sol (13-1) and the nation’s premier high school basketball program, Findlay Prep (NV), did not feature two Arizona high school programs, the anticipation was much greater.  Corona Del Sol is definitely the class of the state of Arizona and…

Read More

The first annual Duel In The Desert presented by Monarch Sports took place Friday evening on the new campus of Rancho Solano Prep, located in Scottsdale, Arizona.  While this annual event is the first of it’s kind and had very little promotion, the gym was packed with fans in an attempt to catch the nation’s premier high school basketball program – Findlay Prep (NV) in the second game of the night. Findlay Prep (17-3) would take on one of Arizona’s premier teams, Pinnacle High School (9-6).  While Pinnacle was thought to be a serious contender to win this year’s Division-I…

Read More

The annual exciting VisitMesa.com Basketball Challenge took place last week and weekend – December 26-31, 2013 on the campus of Mesa Mountain View High School in Mesa, Arizona.  This year’s event was filled with some of the top high school basketball programs in the West, and made for some very exciting basketball action for basketball enthusiasts across the state.  Organized by hard-working and dedicated tournament organizers Marc Beasley and Dr. Steve Hogen, this annual event is a can’t miss on my calendar and it seems to get better each year. This year’s tournament included many top basketball teams and programs from…

Read More

Perry High School (14-1) has been terrific this high school season – first winning the Paradise Valley Invitational earlier in the season, and now winning this year’s McClintock Holiday Shootout.  Perry is winning big this season behind the strong coaching leadership of Joe Babinski, who has developed winning programs everywhere he has gone, and the superb backcourt play of the Howard brothers – 5-foot-10 senior guard Jordan Howard and 5-foot-10 freshman guard Markus Howard. Perry would win three games in a row in this year’s McClintock tournament in blowout fashion, before knocking off a game Desert Ridge ballclub in the championship game on Monday…

Read More

Mesa Junior College (11-2) has been rolling this season, and looks to be playing their best basketball of the season.  Currently ranked as the top team in Arizona’s ACCAC conference, Mesa had won their last 9 games in a row on the season coming into Sunday evening’s championship game in the Fiesta Bowl Junior College Shootout.  After two early season narrow losses to top-rated out-of-state junior college opponents – Indian Hills JC (IA) and Snow Junior College (UT), Mesa has been rolling. Mesa has been led this season by the terrific point guard play of 6-foot, 180-pound sophomore guard Shy McClelland – currently…

Read More

In Phoenix College’s last outing they defeated the ACCAC’s top team, Arizona Western Junior College, on their home floor.  But that win had been more than a week ago and Phoenix College would look to overcome any rust gained over the holidays.  On Sunday evening, Phoenix College head coach Matt Gordon and his staff would look to get their team back to that same level, as they faced a new Howard Junior College (TX) program in the Maricopa County Holiday Classic on their home floor. Howard Junior College (TX) is widely known as one of the top junior college programs in the country…

Read More

Last season was very difficult season to swallow for Mesa Mountain View High School’s players and coaches, as the team finished with an 18-11 overall record and were unable to truly compete for a state championship – an uncommon situation for one of the state’s premier basketball programs.  But this season has already been much different for this group, as the team is already off to an excellent start to the 2013-2014 high school basketball season. This week has been a very good week too for the Toros, as legendary head coach Gary Ernst would win his 800th career victory on Thursday evening -…

Read More

The VisitMesa.com Basketball Challenge has quickly developed into the premier high school basketball tournament over the holidays in the state, and this year’s tournament got off to an excellent start on Thursday evening with only two games on the night.  After Mesa Mountain View would blow past an outmatched Salpointe Catholic HS team in the first game, the stage was set for, possibly, the best match-up of the tournament in the final game of the evening. On the first night of this year’s event, Arizona’s two-time defending Division-I state champions, Corona Del Sol (9-0) would face one of the top…

Read More

The VisitMesa.com Basketball Challenge has quickly developed into the premier high school basketball tournament in the state during the regular season, and has also created a stage for Arizona’s best high school basketball teams to compete against some of the top high school programs around the West Coast. This year’s loaded field of teams for the 2013 event at Mesa Mountain View High School is no different than year’s past, and actually looks to be the best ever.  The tournament will feature many of Arizona’s best teams, including the state’s top two teams this season – undefeated Corona Del Sol and Pinnacle High School.  Corona and Pinnacle…

Read More