This weekend’s Southwest Showcase Main Event, hosted by Ron Coleman and the Avondale Sports Complex, kicked off the start of which looks to be to a very exciting and intriguing spring club basketball season here in the state of Arizona. This two-day event sported a majority of the top talent in the state of Arizona from all levels and programs around. The level of basketball that was played was very high for so early in the AAU/club season. Of the games I watched at the two-day event, here are my top unsigned senior (2013) performers I saw perform (in no particular order)…
Author: azpreps
The Paradise Valley Trojans and the Salpointe Catholic Lancers were the teams squaring off in the Divison-II State Championship game. Paradise Valley was led by 6-foot-6 senior forward Paul Watson (Fresno State signee) and Salpointe was led by Jaylyn Juan. This was set to be a good game.Salpointe came out scoring the first six points of the game, before Cedric Jacobsjones made a layup to put PV on the board. Once the Trojans scored their first points, they went on a run to force a Salpointe timeout with one and a half minutes left, and Paradise Valley leading 12-8. Out of the timeout,…
On Saturday I went to Jobing.com Arena to watch the state finals game for the Division-I girls basketball State Championship game. This game featured #1 ranked St. Mary’s High School, and #3 state ranked Pinnacle High School. Each team faced some tough teams leading up to this day, but it all came down to this. The game began with Chantel Osahor (Univ. of Washington signee), 6-foot-2 senior forward, for St. Mary’s and Pinnacle’s 6-foot-1 senior center, Maddie Rinehart, going for the tip. St. Mary’s would start the game off with the ball. Two shots were taken by St. Mary’s, but both would hit the rim and bounce back. Pinnacle would not capitalize. St. Mary’s…
On Thursday, February 21st I traveled to Wells Fargo Arena (ASU) and watched the semi-final playoffs for the Division-I State Tournament, which featured the #1 seed Corona del Sol Aztecs versus the #4 seed Desert Mountain (DM) Wolves.The Corona kids were crazy, as they supported their team with at least 300 kids from the student section, which was the most impressive sight to see with everyone having black shirts on. This game was highly anticipated – not only to watch two elite teams, but also to watch two elite PGs in 6-foot-3 junior PG Casey Benson and 5-foot-11 junior guard Rolando Rhymes. The game started with some…
On Thursday, February 21st I traveled to Wells Fargo Arena (ASU) and watched the semi-final playoffs for the Division-I State Tournament, which featured the #3 Pinnacle Pioneers versus the #2 Chavez Champions. The story line in my opinion was the depth of Chavez versus the star status of Pinnacle, with 6-foot-5 senior wing Drew Bender (Rice University signee) and 6-foot-4 junior guard Dorian Pickens. The game started quickly with Pickens for a drive to the hole, followed by a left-hand lay-up for another two points for a 4-0 lead for Pinnacle. Chavez 5-foot-10 senior guard Jesse Salazar got to the line and made two free-throws for a 4-2 game. After a free…
On Thursday, February 21st I traveled to Wells Fargo Arena (ASU) and watched the semi-final playoffs for the Division-I State Tournament, which featured the #1 seed St. Mary’s Knights versus the #5 seed Hamilton Huskies. Watching the St. Mary’s girls team is like watching the Harlem Globetrotters, as you know the outcome about 95% of the time before the game starts, but you are having so much fun watching the talent level, that you don’t really care about the outcome. That was the case in this one, as they were up by around 15 points the entire game. The first quarter score was 27…
On Tuesday, February 19th I traveled to Wells Fargo Arena (ASU) and watched the 4th and final game of the night for the Elite-8 playoffs for the Division-I state tournament, which featured #1 seed Corona del Sol Aztecs versus the #8 seed Millennium (Mill) Tigers. The game started and Millennium’s 6-foot-4 senior wing Luke Jackson made a short turnaround for a 2-0 lead for Mill. Then 6-foot-10 junior post Elston Jones hit a mid-range shot, followed by a lay-up inside by 6-foot-4 senior guard Ramon Franklin for a 6-0 lead for Mill. Corona’s 6-foot-1 junior guard Jarrett Givens gets his team on the board after making two free-throws, followed by a Jones…
On Tuesday, February 19th I traveled to Wells Fargo Arena (ASU) and watched the third game of the day for the Elite-8 playoffs for the Division-I state tournament, which featured the #2 seed Cesar Chavez Champions versus the #23 seed Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions. On paper this game was supposed to be a blow out, but Mountain Ridge had upset #10 Mountain View and #7 Hamilton to make it to the Elite 8. 6-foot-1 senior wing DJ Nunez started it off with a lay-up, followed by 5-foot-9 senior guard Tanner Waldrip, who hit a deep 3-ball to start a surprising 5 to 0 lead for Ridge. Then Waldrip and…
On Tuesday, February 19th I traveled to Wells Fargo Arena (ASU) and watched the second game of the day for the Elite-8 playoffs for the Division-I State Tournament, which featured the #3 seed Pinnacle Pioneers versus the #11 seed Gilbert Tigers. The story before the game was how would Gilbert’s tough defense contain the Pioneers’ great offense. Also, how was 6-foot-5 senior wing Drew Bender’s (Rice University commit) foot doing and would he be productive. The game started and Gilbert’s 6-foot-4 senior wing Tanner Reber grabbed an offensive rebound and a lay-up for the first two points of the game, which would be the last time Gilbert would have a lead. Pinnacle’s…
Arizona Magic Club Coaches Wanted The Arizona Magic Club organization is currently seeking club coaches for all age levels (U9 – U17), as the program currently is growing a great deal and will need more coaches for this season. Coaches must have HS, College or professional experience. All coaches interested please contact Coach De at 480.577.0678. 2013 Arizona Magic High School Tryouts NOW SET The Arizona Magic 2013 tryouts will be held on March 2, 2013 at the new home of the Arizona Magic – Scottsdale Jewish Community Center (12701 North Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85254). Player Registration starts at…