It was an exciting matchup in the 5A Division for the 5A State Championship, as #1 seed Campo Verde (28-4) faced off with #2 seed Millennium High School (27-5) at Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Friday evening. Campo Verde came into the game looking to win their first ever state title, while Millennium was looking to win it all again, after coming up just short in their past two state championship performances - finishing runner-up two times in a row.
The game would get off to a very slow start, as both teams would miss shots early and also turn the ball over, as both teams would look to overcome some early nerves in the contest.
After a 10-6 Millennium lead after the first period, 6-foot-6 freshman wing Cameron Holmes would knock down a 3-pointer to give Millennium a 15-11 lead with 6 minutes left to play in the first half.
Campo Verde's 6-foot junior Cohen Ferguson would score a 3-pointer to narrow the Millennium lead, 15-14, with 4:41 left to play in the second period. Then a nice layup from 6-foot senior guard Isaiah Kai (NAU signee) would give Campo Verde their first lead, 16-15 over Millennium.
Millennium's 6-foot-6 sophomore forward Kingston Tosi would then score his first basket of the game, on a strong driving layup, after being fouled on the play. The three-point play would tie the game at 18 all. Another driving layup from Tosi with 1:07 left to play in the period would give Millennium a 23-20 advantage. With just seconds left to play in the first half, 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Quincy Everson would tap in a layup just before the buzzer - giving Millennium the halftime lead, 25-22.
In the third period, both teams would continue to struggle from the field, as Campo Verde would outscore Millennium 16-12 in the period to take a lead into the fourth period, 38-34, after a nice three-pointer from the corner by 5-foot-10 senior guard Justin Garcia, after an assist from Isaiah Kai.
In the fourth period, Campo Verde would hold on to the lead, which will improve to 44-37 after a nice mid-range jump shot from 6-foot-5 senior forward Garrett Ahern.
With 4:08 left to play, Quincy Everson would convert a three-point play to make it a 4-point game, 44-40.
Isaiah Kai would then make a nice assist to Ahern with 3:45 left to play, to give Campo Verde a 46-40 lead late. Millennium would then miss several shot attempts, which would lead to a comfortable lead for Campo Verde, but Isaiah Kai would foul out of the game with just over (2) minutes left to play - giving Millennium one last chance to make a run. Another basket by Garrett Ahern would give Campo Verde their biggest lead of the game, 51-41, with less than 2 minutes remaining.
With Millennium looking to finish the game strong and overcome Campo Verde's lead, another basket by Ahern would cap off the big championship victory with less than a minute left to play. Campo Verde would finish off the championship win, 61-48, for the first ever state championship for the Campo Verde program. (5) different players would finish with double-digit scoring for Campo Verde in the win.
"This is crazy," said Isaiah Kai. "Everything that we have worked for since grade school, has now paid off."
Congratulations to the Campo Verde basketball program and Head Coach Mark Martinez and his staff for winning their first ever state title, and also for putting together the most wins in their school's history. Our staff has watched this program closely for several years, and seen this team of players grow and develop together. What a fitting end to an excellent career for Isaiah Kai and his family, as well as he was one of the most underrated prospects in this state for some time. NAU Head Coach Shane Burcar is getting a good one.
