Brophy Prep (16-6) is gearing up to make a strong push for the 6A state playoffs at this point in the season. After recently falling to undefeated Basha, Brophy head coach Matt Hooten has his team playing their best basketball of the season. The Broncos showed just how good they can be on Friday evening - absolutely blowing out a talented Chandler team, 68-38.
This game looked excellent on paper, as a very well coached and talented team, Brophy Prep, matched up with one of the state's most athletic teams in Chandler. Chandler is not only athletic and gifted, but they are led by the play of one of the state's elite prospects in the 2018 class - 6-foot-6 junior wing Tevian Jones. Jones is a big-time athletic talent, but he would absolutely struggle against Brophy's team defensive pressure on Friday evening. Jones would finish with his worst shooting performance of the season.
Brophy Prep would get a balanced attack from all aspects of their team, led by the heady point guard play of 6-foot-4 junior guard Ian Burke. Burke would orchestrate the Broncos' offense to a drum and get his teammates involved - pushing the basketball up the floor and making very good decisions.
Brophy Prep 6-foot-9 senior post Sean Dunn (Point Loma signee) would play very strong inside for Brophy, beating up the Chandler team inside. Without a true post presence on the floor, Dunn would have excellent success in the paint, while also running the floor ahead of the Chandler defense and getting easy scoring opportunities. Dunn is an absolute steal for Point Loma Nazarene University and he showed on Friday evening just how good he can be.
Brophy Prep 6-foot-7 junior wing Jaxson Baker is a very nice looking prospect for Arizona's 2018 class, and he is now coming into his own as a player for head coach Matt Hooten. Baker did not start for Brophy early in the season, which is a mystery to me, but he has now been inserted into the Brophy starting lineup fulltime. Baker played very well Friday evening - shooting the basketball well from the perimeter and making good passes to teammates.
Brophy would surprisingly lead by 25 points, 39-14, at halftime. Brophy Prep 6-foot-1 senior guard Ryan Meza would even hit a half-court shot at the buzzer to make the wound even deeper for Chandler head coach Ed Gibson and his staff.
Brophy Prep would continue their terrific play in the game's second half, as Chandler would not score for the first 3 minutes of the third period. Both teams would eventually almost play even basketball in the second half, but the damage would be done in the first half, as Chandler would not recover.
Brophy Prep plays a surging Hamilton HS team on Tuesday 1/31, in what should be a very good contest.
Recruiting Notes: Chandler's star 6-foot-6 junior wing Tevian Jones is a big-time atheltic talent, and will definitely recover from this performance. He seems to struggles at times when he relies on jump shots and does not get included in the Chandler offense as much as he may need to, as the Chandler guards sometimes rush shots and forget about his touches. He is a tremendous talent when he has the basketball in his hands and can make plays for himself and others, although he shot a poor percentage from the free-throw line also on Friday evening. While his performance was not up to his standards on Friday evening, this young man is still a big-time talent for the future and the Chandler team still also has very good prospects as well. This Chandler team should bounce back and have a strong finish to the season.
