Desert Vista vs Red Mountain Game Recap
The Red Mountain Wolves matched up against the Desert Vista Thunder in this exciting game. Early on, Red Mountain's Derek Rojas and Desert Vista's Greg Carter came out scoring. Rojas hit (3) three-pointers in the first four minutes, while Carter had one long range shot and 7 points in the same amount of time. Desert Vista called their first timeout at the 11 minute mark of the first half, down 14-11.
The first half was a good battle, as both teams went back and forth - making it a 32-32 tie at halftime. Derek Rojas led Red Mountain with 9 points, while Sean Cahill and Colton Plourd each scored 7. Desert Vista was led by Greg Carter’s 10 points and Deonte Harrington’s 8 points and (2) three-pointers off the bench.
The second half was setup to be a good finish. Desert Vista came out hot in the second half, going on a quick 15-4 run and forcing a Red Mountain timeout five minutes into the action. After taking a double-digit lead to start the half, they held on to it throughout the half.
Desert Vista was able to counter every Red Mountain run, until the Wolves finally were able to cut the lead to five with three minutes left, 56-51. Desert Vista’s attempt to run out the clock was working, until 6-foot-4 senior guard Travis Meeker (Northern Arizona signee) stole a pass and finished an And-1 on the break with two minutes left to play. Another turnover on the next possession gave Red Mountain the ball, and two Desmond Ethridge free throws tied the game with just over one-minute left.
Desert Vista’s next possession again was a turnover, as Colton Plourd stole the ball and gave the Wolves the lead with one minute left. Desert Vista now faced possible defeat, as they allowed Red Mountain to take a two-point lead. On the Thunder’s next possession, they missed a shot and Red Mountain collected the rebound with 45 seconds left. The Wolves would take a timeout.
Sessions was fouled on the inbound and would hit one of two from the line. Desert Vista could tie the game with a three now. The man to take the shot was 6-foot-2 senior guard Avery Brunson, and he would hit the shot with almost no time left. Red Mountain missed a shot at the buzzer and we had overtime - 60-60.
Regulation was not enough to decide this game. A four-minute overtime started out the same way the rest of the game had been - back and forth. Desert Vista called a timeout with just under two minutes left, up 65-64. The timeout led to back-to-back buckets by Greg Carter - giving the Thunder a 69-64 lead.
Red Mountain then hit two free throws and forced a turnover with 10 seconds left. They needed a three to tie the game; however Desert Vista strategically fouled them, so they had no chance to tie it. Diego Hernandez missed both free throws and Desert Vista was able to hit two free throws to ice the game. The final was 71-66, Desert Vista with the win.
Desert Vista was led by Greg Carter who had an all-around great game. Carter scored 28 points and had 4 assists for the Thunder. Other contributors were Avery Brunson, who had 10 points and 8 rebounds, and 6-foot-3 senior guard Kyle Pitman who had 10 points.
For Red Mountain, Desmond Ethridge led all of their scorers with 13 points, while Derek Rojas had 12 points on (4) three-pointers, and Sean Cahill delivered 10 points and 9 rebounds in the loss. Travis Meeker was held to 5 points in the loss, as he struggled to get open looks.
Mesa Mountain View vs Gilbert Game Recap
The story of this game was the highly-anticipated matchup between 6-foot-9 junior post Payton Dastrup for Mountain View and 6-foot-8 sophomore post Truman Moore for Gilbert. As expected, this game was slow, as both teams tried to feed the post. Gilbert was able to jump out to the early lead, and force a timeout at the four and a half minute mark, up 21-10.
The matchup in the post was fun to watch, as both big guys are very skilled with their backs to the basket. Gilbert has the better overall team, as at halftime they held a 28-16 lead. The Tigers' leading scorers at half were 6-foot-3 senior guard Connor Helvig who had 8 points and Tanner Reber who had 6 points. For the Toros, Payton Dastrup had 8 points and 7 rebounds at half.
The Toros would need some contributions from other players to be able to get back in the game. The second half was the same story - both teams trying to feed the post, making it slow-paced and low possession.
Mountain View called a timeout at the 11 and a half minute mark, down 41-25. This timeout seemed to spark something for them. The Toros slowly fought back - cutting the lead to ten by the five minute mark, forcing a timeout. They then cut it to seven at the three minute mark to force another timeout.
Finally, they cut the lead to three with 30 seconds left to force another Gilbert timeout, the score being 59-56. Mountain View fouled Wyatt Lowell, who hit one of two free throws. Colton Meo then hit a three-pointer on the following possession for the Toros with 18 seconds left - 60-59 the score.
Mountain View fouled Connor Helvig, who hit both free-throws from the line to make it a three-point lead for Gilbert. Gilbert then fouled Colton Meo on the next possession, and he hit one of two with six seconds left to make it a two-point game. Another quick Mountain View foul then put Helvig back at the line. Helvig hit the first, but missed the second to keep it a three-point lead for Gilbert. Dastrup got the rebound and threw a long pass down court to Meo, who would hit a double pump three-pointer at the buzzer and send the game to overtime - the score 63-63.
An incredible comeback by Mountain View and a large lead given up by Gilbert gave the Toros momentum going into overtime.
The overtime started with two free throws by Gilbert’s Spencer Nicholds, giving them a two-point lead. However, Mountain View had two-straight buckets; one being a three to make it a 68-63 Toro lead.
Gilbert was able to answer with a bucket and two free throws by Wyatt Lowell, to make it a one-point game. Mountain View then started playing keep away with one minute left. Meo was fouled with 40 seconds left in overtime, and hit both free throws to make it 70-67, Mountain View.
Gilbert called a timeout with 18 seconds left, and had a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer. Conoor Helvig missed the shot, and Payton Dastrup got the rebound and was fouled. All Mountain View needed was one, but Dastrup hit them both and sealed a Toro victory, 72-67.
Dastrup led the way for Mountain View - scoring 24 points, and getting 13 rebounds, as well as 7 assists. Senior forward Brian Butler had a good shooting day, as he added 20 points of his own, and Colton Meo scored 14.
Gilbert’s leading scorer was Connor Helvig who had a team-high 20 points. Truman Moore added 12 points and 5 rebounds in the loss.
