On day two of this year’s McClintock Holiday Shootout, there was more exciting action taking place as each of the top teams in the field looked to advance even further in the tournament – hoping to land in the tournament’s final game on Saturday evening. The best game of the day saw a very well-coached Mountain Ridge High School (7-7) team take on a gritty Highland HS (10-3) team for the opportunity to advance to the tournament’s semi-finals. Mountain Ridge, coached by valley basketball veteran Eli Lopez, has really developed as a team and as a basketball program quickly over…
Author: Anthony Ray
The one good thing about the conclusion of Christmas day is the beginning of holiday basketball tournaments around the state. With each of the state’s elite boy’s basketball programs in competition, it is always a joy to sit in a gym for 12-straight hours and watch high school basketball, rather than working for corporate America – atleast for 2 or 3 days during the holidays. One of the state’s top holiday tournaments for the past 20 years has been the McClintock Holiday Shootout. While the tournament was once the elite basketball tournament in the state, the event has seen it’s struggles over the past 5 years attracting…
Arizona’s 2014 class of girls prospects is loaded with talent, although many of the names are not household names, as of yet. While the 2013 class of prospects was absolutely loaded with division-I talent, the 2014 class is still defining itself for college programs. One of the top prospects in the class is 3-time defending state champion, Seton Catholic High School’s 5-foot-10 junior post Julia Barcello. Barcello is among the state’s elite prospects in the class, although most college coaches are still evaluating her as a player. In our last summer player rankings, Barcello checked in as our #2 overall prospect…
After St. Mary’s High School (10-1) lost their first game in three seasons on Friday evening to eventual tournament champion Mater Dei HS (CA) in this year’s Nike Tournament of Champions, the lady Knights would return to action on Saturday evening in another major contest. Facing previous #1 nationally ranked (by MaxPreps) Bishop O’Dowd HS (CA), St. Mary’s would look to begin another win streak. Bishop O’Dowd would jump out to a 9-6 early in the first period, but St. Mary’s, playing in a much more fluid offensive style than their previous game, would come back to take a 14-9…
As winners of last year’s Nike Tournament of Champions and also last year’s national championship, two-time defending Arizona state champion and #1 nationally ranked St. Mary’s High School (9-1) took on #3 overall ranked Mater Dei HS (CA) in what we become the best girl’s high school basketball game I have ever seen with my own two eyes. In front of a capacity crowd and loads of division-I college coaches in attendance, St. Mary’s would look to build on their amazing 49-game win streak, which began during the 2010-2011 high school basketball season. The Knights would win the final 10 games of the season -…
Mesa Mountain View (8-4) entered Tuesday night’s match-up with Red Mountain High School (8-3) as a banged up team, looking to pick up the pieces from a season that has seen numerous injuries already for head coach Henry Bribiescas. The Toros have seen injuries to several key players to this year’s team; injuries that have slowed this year’s talented team down a bit but not fully. Three of the four losses suffered by the Toros this season came at the hands of out-of-state competition in the La Jolla Sweet Sixteen Tournament in California. Mountain View, thought to be a team that…
Arizona’s 2013 senior class of girls prospects is loaded with talented players for college coaches to take a strong look at this season. With numerous members of the class already signed with division-I programs, one player that is still on the recruiting board this high school season is 3-time defending state-champion Seton Catholic High School’s 5-foot-8 senior guard prospect Anne Marie Holter. Holter remains uncommitted during her senior season after three strong high school seasons under terrific high school head coach Karen Self. A four-year member of the varsity team at Seton Catholic, Holter has helped lead her high school program to an amazing three…
The only girl’s basketball program in the state of Arizona that has been able to be mentioned in the same breathe as the lady Knights of St. Mary’s High School, is the girl’s basketball program at Seton Catholic HS. The Sentinels are winners of the last three consecutive state championships in their division – (1) Division-II state title last season and (2) 4A Division-II state championships before that. Under terrific head coach Karen Self, Seton Catholic has won an amazing 3 consecutive state championships and has compiled a record of 110-19 over the last four seasons. Seton Catholic (9-2) entered Tuesday night’s match-up with previously…
After amazing performances during the 2010-2011 & 2011-2012 high school basketball seasons, the lady Knights of St. Mary’s High School have returned again this season to pick up right where they left off the last two seasons. Last season was a perfect season for St. Mary’s, as they made history in the state of Arizona for girl’s basketball – finishing with a perfect 30-0 record on the season and winning their second-consecutive state championship in easy fashion. The Knights also won the coveted Nike Tournament of Champions girls tournament during the winter, and also an historic national championship (by ESPN) and #1 national ranking. The Knights saw the graduation of last year’s…
The state of Arizona’s 2014 class of prospects is absolutely loaded with talented prospects. The state will not have another class this special for many years. One player in the class that has really developed over the past year, and has put himself into a position to become one of the better prospects in the class is Westwind Prep’s 6-foot-3, 185-pound junior combo-guard prospect Tate De Laveaga. De Laveaga competed for his first two high school seasons at Horizon High School, but after his father, Jeff De Laveaga, decided to take over the helm at local prep basketball power Westwind Prep, Tate decided…