Tonight I attended the Division-II, second round playoff matchup between the #17 seed Cactus Shadows Falcons (Cave Creek, AZ) and the #1 seed Sunnyslope Vikings. The gym was packed with the majority of the fans wearing green! The game really lived up to all the hype. The Sunnyslope Vikings (coached by Ray Portella) came into this contest RED-HOT with a record of 27-3, and having just recently captured the Division-II, Section-III, Boy’s Basketball Championship and received a first-round bye in the state tournament. The Cactus Shadows Falcons (coached by former Shadow Mountain state champion and D-I player for the Richmond…
Author: azpreps
On Saturday, February 16th I went to watch the Sweet 16 match-up of the #13 seed Dobson Mustangs versus the #4 Mesa Jackrabbits. There was a vibe in the air like this was the final game of the year, and not a seat was open in the stands in Mesa’s gym, as it was probably the hottest gym I have been in this year. The game started as 6-foot-5 senior SG Jaron Hopkins (Univ. of Colorado signee) jumped out of the gym to win the tip for Dobson, but missed the first shot of the game, before Mesa 6-foot-4 sophomore PG Jalen Jenkins grabbed the rebound…
On Friday evening, I attended the second round game of the Division-I girls’ basketball state tournament. Hamilton (26-5) would host their first playoff game – facing the Marana Mountain View Mountain Lions (22-7). The Mountain Lions played earlier in the week to advance to this game, knocking Cibola High School out of the tournament. The Huskies had a bye for the week, making this their first game in the state tournament. The game kicked off with Mountain View’s 6-foot-3 junior forward, Karina Kelly winning the tip off for her team, but traveling would be called under the basket – giving the Huskies a chance to score first. …
After watching 30 different high school freshmen teams, I just wanted to rank my favorite teams that I have seen. I started on November 27th at Marcos de Niza and ended at North Canyon on February 1st. I averaged about 3 games per/week – making it out to watch 30 different teams. Some of these teams I saw two times. This ranking does not reflect star freshmen in the program, like the great Shadow Mountain HS kids all on varsity. This ranking includes only the true freshman teams. Some of these players also play junior varsity, but their main “playing time” is on the…
The venue was Mesquite High School for a great matchup between the Hamilton Huskies and the Corona Del Sol Aztecs. The Huskies were sporting a 21-6 record, while the Aztecs had an impressive 24-4 record. The game’s first basket was a three-pointer by Hamilton’s senior guard Nate Walker, which was answered on the following possession by Corona’s 6-foot-2 junior guard Casey Benson, who celebrated the shot to the rowdy Hamilton fans section. The first timeout was taken by Hamilton, following back-to-back buckets by Adam Gleave, one of which was a three-pointer, with three and a half minutes left in the…
On February 9th, the #3 ranked Highland Hawks took on the #6 ranked Hamilton Huskies in the Division-I, Section-II championship game. Hamilton started the game off with 5-foot-9 junior guard Ashlee Moore hitting a three for the first points of the game. Shelby Hartman, 5-foot-8 junior forward for Hamilton, hurries back down the court to hit another three pointer to get the Huskies going – 6-0, Huskies. Senior 5-foot-10 forward Kendall Adams (Idaho State signee) goes up for a layup and is fouled twice in the last 3 minutes of the quarter – only making 1 of 4 shots on the line. Melinda Myers, a 6-foot junior for Highland, gets a nice assist from teammate…
Coming off of a surprising victory against Chaparral, the Mountain View Toros (18-10) were hoping to keep it going against the favored Desert Mountain Wolves. Desert Mountain (23-4) would be without their starting shooting guard Will Goff who was out due to an injury. The game opened up with a Payton Dastrup basket inside. Mountain View would need a lot of these to have a chance in this one. Desert Mountain’s offense came out a little bit confused against the Toros’ 2-3 zone. The zone kept Desert Mountain’s 6-foot junior point guard Rolando Rhymes out of the paint, which helped Mountain View…
Chaparral High School was the destination for a highly-anticipated matchup between the Pinnacle Pioneers (23-6) and the Mesa Jackrabbits (24-5). Both teams were showing off some great talent, with both teams being potential final-four candidates. The game opened up fast paced. Back and forth they went, attacking the basket and running the break whenever possible. Mesa’s 6-foot-2 senior guard DJ Henderson hit back-to-back threes for Mesa to force a Pinnacle timeout with three minutes left in the quarter, 18-10 Mesa. Pinnacle was able to finish the quarter strong and was down 22-17 after one. The second quarter started and Pinnacle 6-foot-4…
On Wednesday, February 6th I watched the 2nd game of the night at Desert Ridge High School for a sectional match-up for Division-I, Section II – the #2 seed Gilbert Tigers (21-6) versus #7 seed Buena Colts (20-9). Gilbert HS 6-foot-6 junior forward Spencer Nicolds started the game off with a deep 3-pointer for a 3-0 lead. Then 6-foot-8 sophomore post Truman Moore scored an easy basket for a 5-0 lead. Nicolds would hit another deep three for an 8 to 0 lead, before Truman Moore would score on another basket inside for a 10 to 0 lead for Gilbert HS. Buena called a time-out and also looked timid and maybe even…
On February 6th I was at Desert Ridge High School for a sectional match-up of Division-I, Section-II – the #3 seed Hamilton Huskies (21-6) versus the #6 seed Cienega Bobcats (20-7). Both teams had good records but played much different schedules to get here.The game started and 6-foot-7 sophomore center James Sosinksi scored two points down low for a 2 to 0 early lead. Then 6-foot-4 sophomore wing Terrence Johnson drove by his man and got fouled – making 1 of 2 free-throws for a 2 to 1 lead for Hamilton. 6-foot junior guard Zach Evans and 6-foot-1 senior guard Nate Walker hit back-to-back long shots for a 7 to 1 lead…