Shadow Mountain High School (7-1) has been terrific this high school season. Sporting a very talented lineup that is very young, Shadow Mountain is the team of the future in the state. On Saturday evening, in this year’s Hoophall West High School Invitational at Grand Canyon University, Shadow would face the team of the present – two-time defending Division-I state champion Corona Del Sol (7-0). Corona is as talented a team as there is in the state this season, led by the play of the state’s premier point guard, 6-foot-3 senior guard Casey Benson (University of Oregon signee), 6-foot-9 senior post Connor…
Author: Anthony Ray
Desert Vista High School (9-0) is as loaded as girl’s team as there is in the state this high school season. The Thunder have absolutely rolled through their competition this season, and have not been challenged, except for a 64-52 win this week over Highland HS. Second-year head coach Jontar Coleman has Desert Vista playing very loose this season, and looking to put it all together. The Thunder are led by a trio of top-rated prospects – led by the developed post play of 6-foot-4 junior post Kristine Anigwe (Cal commit), who recently gave a verbal commitment to Cal-Berkeley, 5-foot-9 star junior…
Arizona Western Junior College (12-3, 6-1) came into Thursday evening’s road game at Phoenix College tied for first place in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC), and as winners of their last 10 games in a row. But they would face a very focused Phoenix College (9-3, 5-2) basketball team that was looking for their 4th win in a row, and on their home floor. Phoenix College came into Thursday night’s match-up playing their best basketball of the season, and excited about the return of 6-foot-4, 218-pound sophomore forward Brandon Pineda-Morales. Thursday evening’s contest would be Pineda’s first game of the season after suffering a…
Westview High School was flat out amazing last season, as they posted a superb 33-2 overall record. Westview might have won it all last season, had they not run into two of the state’s top teams. They would fall to an unstoppable St. Mary’s team on their home floor in the sectional finals, and then lose to a tough Hamilton team in the quarterfinals. This season, head coach Lisa Contreras, one of the top coaches in the state, returns a very experienced lineup from last season that only lost two seniors from last year’s team to graduation. While the team surprisingly has…
Dobson High School head coach Tyler Dumas and the Dobson girls basketball program have to be very excited as they have started off the 2013-2014 high school basketball season with a big, 8-0 start to the year. With several big blowout victories early in the season already, and key victories over such talented teams as Mesa Mountain View, Mountain Pointe and Gilbert Highland, this year’s group of Mustangs is on a tear and looking to hang a Division-I state championship banner in 2014. Dobson (8-0) returns a loaded and experienced group this high school season, after only losing 4 seniors to graduation from last…
Since departure from Northern Arizona University last month by 5-foot-11 high-scoring sophomore guard Dewayne Russell, the talented guard prospect has picked up loads of division-I college interest for himself. It had seemed that Russell would be a integral part of the basketball program for the Lumberjacks, especially after a stellar freshman season where he posted averages of 14.4 points and 3.2 assists per game as a freshman in 2012-13. Instead, Russell and Northern Arizona head coach Jack Murphy would mutally part ways with one another just 3 days before the start to the 2013-2014 college basketball season. Russell scored a team-high 27 points in…
Gilbert High School (4-1) is among the top-rated teams in the state, once again this season. Led by an experienced coaching staff and a team of talented players, head coach Jay Caserio and this Gilbert team will have their best chance of winning it all this high school season. While possessing the best frontcourt in the state this season, much of the responsibility for winning a state title this season will rest on the shoulders of their tough and physical 5-foot-11 senior point guard Anthony Bryant. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Bryant is one of the state’s premier point guards and has led the team for…
It was a busy night on the campus of Brophy Prep, as fans poured into the school’s parking lot for a concert on the school’s campus. With so much activity around the school’s campus, there were also many Broncos fans in the basketball gymnasium looking to support their home team in an exciting match-up with Westview High School (3-3). The match-up between Brophy Prep (4-2) and Westview would be a reunion of sorts for 6 different players between the two teams who competed together this past spring and summer for the same club program – the Arizona Magic. For Westview’s 6-foot-9 senior…
One player that is beginning to come into his own this high school season is Queen Creek High School’s talented and athletically gifted 6-foot-4 senior guard/forward Parker Anderson. In fact, Anderson came into his own on Tuesday evening in his team’s narrow loss to top-ranked Gilbert High School. In the defeat, Anderson emerged as one of the state’s top sleeper prospects and proved that he is worthy of serious recruiting attention as a result. Anderson, who burst on to the Arizona basketball scene this past spring and summer while playing for the Arizona Magic club program, proved that he was a serious athletic talent…
Phoenix College (8-3) is always a team to be reckoned with in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference (ACCAC). Led by hard-working head coach Matt Gordon and his experienced basketball staff, the Bears are always in the hunt annually for the conference title. This year should be no different, as Phoenix College flexed their muscles in a nice 90-78 win over visiting Scottsdale Junior College on Wednesday evening. Wednesday night saw the emergence of Phoenix College 6-foot-4, 180-pound sophomore guard Cameron Israel. Israel, who had missed 9 of the team’s first 11 games with a collapsed lung, would compete in only his second game…