Marcos De Niza High School (7-9) has not been a major threat in the state’s Division-II Class this season, but one prospect for the program is making a name for himself this season among the better unheralded senior guard prospects in the state. An unsigned prospect, 6-foot senior guard Anthony Varela has really improved as a player and is coming off his best performance of his high school career this week. This week, in a road loss at Queen Creek High School, Varela carried his team in the game – pouring in a game-high 25 points, while connecting on (5) three-pointers in the…
Author: Anthony Ray
One of the top prospects still available this spring has soared this high school season, while under the recruiting radar by most college programs. Desert Ridge High School’s talented and athletic 6-foot-3 senior point guard Hunter Thomas is having an excellent season this year for his team – leading the Jaguars to a strong 14-3 overall record on the season in the state’s Division-I Class. Thomas has been terrific this high school season – recently leading his ballclub to a nice runner-up championship finish in this year’s McClintock Holiday Shootout. In the process, Thomas put up big scoring numbers in…
Post players take time to develop, and so patience becomes a virtue in preparation for the time it takes to develop a rising post talent. One prospect that has developed as of late is Westwind Prep’s 7-foot prep post Jeremiah April. April is coming off a couple of strong performances against top-rated junior college talent in the state. April posted big numbers in his team’s match-ups with Midland Junior College (TX) and Pima Junior College. April poured in 26 points against Midland, and 28 points in his team’s game against Pima Junior College – both impressive performances for the rising post talent. April has come…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…