Southwest Showcase and ArizonaVarsity.com will be hosting the High Academic Showcase on March 4th, 2012 at North Canyon High School. The purpose of the event is to identify Arizona’s top student-athletes and to promote them to high academic colleges across the country.
Author: Anthony Ray
Pinnacle High School’s 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior post Cody McDavis is coming off a strong senior season for one of the state’s top teams. McDavis had his best season to date in helping lead Pinnacle HS to a strong 2011-2012 season and a 30-4 record. Now that the season is over, McDavis will turn his attention to recruiting. After an offer Sunday evening, McDavis now has two division-I offers on the table. The hottest unsigned prospect in Arizona this spring, McDavis advised me that he received a scholarship offer from Northern Colorado on Sunday evening. McDavis also recently received a scholarship…
Just after watching their girls lose the championship to Seton Catholic HS (3rd straight state championship), the #4 seed Peoria Panthers’ (26-4) boys team would face defending state champion, #3 seed Tucson’s Amphitheater High School (32-3) in the state final of this year’s Diviison-II Class at Jobing.com Arena. With both teams of Panthers looking to be suffering from early nerves, the game would turn in a sloppy first quarter. While Peoria would score each of their first quarter field goals in the paint, Amphitheater would take a 9-8 lead after the first period. With 4:56 left to play in the…
Hamilton High School’s girls program rolled into Saturday’s Division-I state championship game on a high after previously upsetting #5 seed Red Mountain, #4 seed Tolleson and #1 seed Mesa Mountain View in their past three games of the state playoffs. But Saturday they would be faced with their toughest test of the season as they would face the nation’s top team, the St. Mary’s Knights (30-0). In a previous match-up during the season, the Knights defeated Hamilton on the road, 74-57. Undefeated on the season and absolutely rolling through their competition, local and abroad, St. Mary’s would look to complete…
Everyone had anticipated to an eventual meeting between the state’s top two teams in this year’s Division-I state championship game – #1 seed Corona Del Sol and #2 seed Pinnacle HS. While #1 seed Corona Del Sol (32-1) would get there as anticipated, no one had expected #6 seed Cesar Chavez to get there. Just like in years past, Chavez had utilized an athletic, fast-breaking style of play to find their way into this year’s championship game. Chavez (27-6) had defeated #2 seed Pinnacle HS 62-58 in overtime in this year’s Division-I semi-finals at Jobing.com Arena on Thursday evening. Corona…
Arizona Western Junior College (AWC) 5-foot-11, 175-pound freshman point guard prospect Lestor Medford is on a tear this junior college season. Ranking among the scoring leaders in the conference this season, Medford has helped his Matadors to a 17-4 overall record and a high-major division-I billing for himself. Currently, Arizona Western ranks third in the ACCAC with a record of 8-3, while ranking #2 in the conference among division-I junior college programs (Cochise JC ranks in the top spot). Medford’s play has been a big reason for the success of the Matadors this junior college season, as he has provided…
#12 seed Hamilton High School girls are determined to win it all this season. Thursday evening they proved it with a big 52-50 victory over #1 seed Mesa Mountain View HS – advancing to the state finals where they will now face the nation’s #1 team in the lady Knights of St. Mary’s HS. Hamilton led by as many as 20 points in the first half, after 5-foot-10 senior forward Cassidee Ranger blazed 5 three-pointers in the game’s first half. After the Toros trailed 48-32 with under 6 minutes remaining in the game, 6-foot-2 junior post Jordan Jensen scored 9-straight…
#23 seed Perry High School had another big upset on their minds entering Tuesday evening’s Division-I quarterfinal match-up with #2 seed Pinnacle HS. After knocking off #10 seed North HS on the road, and then #7 seed Basha HS on the road as well, Perry looked to be the cinderella team in this year’s state playoffs. Riding a serious high into Tuesday’s contest, the Puma’s would face a Pinnacle HS team that has rolled through each of their opponents this postseason. Pinnacle (30-3) has been on a tear this season, winning their last 13 games in a row. One of…
#1 seed Corona Del Sol (30-1) continued their run towards winning this year’s Division-I state title Tuesday evening with a nice 69-54 quarterfinal playoff win over Brophy Prep. After getting off to a slow start in their last playoff game, the Aztecs would come out much faster in this one – taking a 13-4 lead with 3:50 remainning in the first quarter after a transition basket by 6-foot-7, 300-pound post Andrus Peat (Stanford commit – football). Corona would extend their lead to nine points, 23-14, in the first period after a nice driving layup from 6-foot-3 senior combo-guard Calaen Robinson…
#2 seed Kellis High School (26-2) has rolled through their competition this season, but Wednesday evening at Wells Fargo Arena, in this year’s quarterfinal playoff, they would struggle against #7 seed Paradise Valley (24-6) – winning a narrow victory in overtime, 52-51. Kellis would jump out to an early lead in the game, 17-8, in the first quarter after a three-pointer from the corner from 6-foot-5 senior forward Bikonzi Moise. Paradise Valley would climb back in the period, and only trail by 3 points after the first – 17-14. Paradise Valley would quickly narrow the margin in the second period,…