The Open Division State Playoffs finally got underway on Wednesday evening across the state, as many teams looked to begin their quest for an Open Division State Championship. With (32) different high school programs in action on Wednesday night in the first round of this year's playoffs, (16) teams have advanced to the second round of these Open Division State Playoffs. #7 seed St. Mary's High School (22-6) began their playoffs with a nice first round match-up with a tough and well-coached Mesa High School program, who came in as the #26 overall seed in the tournament. Mesa (22-6) would fall behind early in the contest, as the Knights would get it going early, and not look back - leading to a big 84-54 first round home playoff victory for the Knights.
St. Mary's has been rolling this high school season, after a slow start to the season, when it looked alarming, after the Knights began the season with (3) losses to stiff competition. Head Coach Damin Lopez and his staff played a very tough early season schedule, and developed their team chemistry and ability to compete for (32) minutes. The Knights came into Wednesday's night's first round match-up on fire, and as winners of their last (14) games on the season. It will show in the opening quarter of the game, as St. Mary's would quickly build a 9-0 lead over Mesa in the opening minutes of the playoff contest.
6-foot-2 senior point guard Styles Phipps (Grand Canyon University signee) has been the catalyst again this season for St. Mary's. While Phipps has not needed to repeat his scoring heroics this high school season consistently, as he did in his junior season, instead he has ran the show for St. Mary's all season, and looked to get his teammates more involved. Phipps would start off the game with a nice mid-range jumper, which would immediately set the tone for St. Mary's. Then an assist from senior guard Kenny White to 6-foot-9 sophomore Cam Williams for a two-handed dunk, another follow by Williams on his own missed shot, and a three-pointer from Kenny White in transition.
Mesas would get their first points of the game with 4:45 to play in the first period. St. Mary's would cruise to a big 39-19 halftime lead, and not look back from there.
In the fourth period, athletic and strong 6-foot-7 junior Caspian Jones would give off an exclamation point with a strong two-handed dunk in transition to put his team ahead 67-45 with 6:12 left to play in the contest. St. Mary's would go on to win 84-54 and advance to the second round, where they will now face a very good Ironwood High School (24-2) program in the second round. Ironwood defeated Hamilton High School, 61-39, in the first round of the playoffs.
In other first round action around the state, the biggest surprise of the Open Division State Playoffs saw #25 seed Desert Vista knock off #8 seed Boulder Creek High School, 68-67. This is a huge win for Desert Vista (19-8) as Head Coach Walter Bonner and his staff are looking to rebuild the Desert Vista program, and have done an excellent job in a short period of time. Desert Vista will now move on to face #9 seed Brophy Prep. Brophy (15-10) defeated a talented Prescott High School, 74-61, at home - advancing to the second round now where they will host Desert Vista on Friday.
#21 seed Canyon View High School advanced on Wednesday with a big 87-81 victory over #12 seed Cesar Chavez High School. Canyon View (23-4) has had an excellent season, and now will face #5 seed Desert Mountain on Friday on the road. Desert Mountain (20-7) squeaked past Thunderbird High School, 48-43, in the opening round.
Here are the complete final game scores from around the state in the Open Division State Playoffs for the AIA. The second round of this year's playoffs will continue on Friday evening at the host high schools of the higher seeded team.