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2012 – 2013 Arizona High School Basketball Season

We look forward to another great season of high school basketball. Click the divisions in the left column to follow your team’s division and highlights. We are always searching for independent reporters for our website. Send us an email if you are interested in writing for our website.

All Arizona High School Boys Basketball Honors for the 2011/2012 Season

by Carlos Sarmiento

Division 1 All State Teams

1st team

Calean Robinson sr. Corona del sol (Player of the year)
Jaron Hopkins jr. Basha
Drew Bender jr. Pinnacle
Danny powell sr. Desert vista
Camyn Boone sr. Mountain view

2nd team
JD Reagan sr. Cesar Chavez
Casey Benson so. Corona del Sol
Josh Braun jr. Boulder Creek
Dorian Pickens so. Pinnacle
Torren Jones jr. Basha

Division 2 All State Teams

1st team

Dewayne Russell sr. Peoria (player of the year)
Jalen Richard jr. Poston butte
Tim Derksen sr. amphitheather
Paul Watson jr. Paradise valley
Kenny Martin sr. Kellis

2nd team
Edgar Sarmiento jr. Sierra Linda
Ryan Berg jr. Saguaro
Larry Lewis sr. Arcadia
Lawrence Pierce sr. Peoria
Stacie Davis sr. Fairfax

Predictions for 2012-2013
Arizona Boys High School Basketball

Guest article by Carlos Sarmiento

Pre-Season Rankings 2012/2013

Division One

Ranking the 3 top projected teams:

1. Basha – Returns all 5 starters including rivals top 150 Torren Jones and possibly the best and most highly recruited player in Jaron Hopkins. (Editor’s note: since this was written Jones and Hopkins transferred out of Basha)

2. Pinnacle – Returns SR. Drew Bender and Jr. Dorian Pickens. After a tough loss to Chavez in the final four Drew and company are going to be hungrier then ever. Don’t be surprised if Pickens commits to Arizona State University early.

3. Boulder Creek – Returns SR. Josh Braun. Braun in my eyes is possibly the best overall player in the 2013 class. He averages over 20 points in a three year career and don’t be shocked if he is the Division One player of the year.

Division Two

1. Sierra Linda – Returns Damien Mendoza and Edgar Sarmiento. Sierra Linda has only had varsity for 2 years and has made a big splash, making the playoffs twice in both years while beating reigning champs Fairfax twice last season. They have proven that they can beat anyone in D2.

Mendoza and Sarmiento should have career seasons since they have been the backbone of Sierra Linda.

2. Paradise Valley – Returns rivals top 50 Paul Watson. Watson has offers from all over the country, including the University of Arizona. Expect Watson to commit and have a monster season.

3. Poston Butte – Returns SR. Guard jalen Richard and Kyle Davis. This team is built just like Sierra Linda with only 2 years of varsity but have made a big splash also. Look out for Jalen Richard to lead state in scoring.

Congratulations to Corona Del Dol for a great 2011-2012 season and for steamrolling through an entire regular season and tournament with one lone loss.

2010 – 2011

Arizona High School Basketball Tournament
at Jobing.com Arena

Mountain View Wins 5A-I Championship

As they have done all season long, Mountain View displayed the Gary Ernst philosophy to perfection with their patient offense and stifling defense as they crushed another opponent enroute to another state title. Their 50 – 29 win highlighted one of the most impressive tournament runs in Arizona history as they defeated teams this season by an average of 25 points per victory. The Toros are losing some key components off this championship team – Sweeney, Mazzucco and Bingham. Camyn Boone and Mitch Wallace return as the lone major pieces to this team. But if Coach Ernst does one thing better than anyone else, it is to make great use of whatever talent he has.

For Brophy, this leaves the school still searching for their first basketball championship. All is not lost as the Broncos have a competitive team returning next season. Key players returning include Fred Gammage, James Harper and Jordan Medi. Don’t be surprised to see Brophy playing for a title again next season against someone like Corona del Sol.

How our 5A-I Prediction Fared
Ok, so we blew it in the championship game with our narrow Brophy victory prediction. That’s what predicting with your heart and not head will do for you. We did finish the 5A-I tournament with an 11 – 4 record. I did not root against Mountain View with my prediction but was hoping the Brophy Bronco’s could bring back to their school their very first basketball title. Never predict with your heart.

Alas, you need more than talent to beat a Gary Ernst coached team that is filled with talented players who play team basketball to near perfection. Brophy has talent and a great group of kids. Mountain View of 2010-2011 has something you just do not see often, extreme team cohesiveness. It would not surprise me to find out this tight group of Mountain View players have been playing together since elementary school.

Predictions for the 5A-I Title Game

Mountain View versus Brophy

I came away from their victory over Mesa extremely impressed with the Broncos. Senior Sai Tummala is a real talent. He is fluid and rarely thrown off his game. # 5 Junior Fred Gammage is a very capable point guard. The team is in good hands here. # 22 Junior James Harper is an all-around terrific player. One this is clear – Mountain View will not rattle Brophy in the title game. Brophy had a much tougher road to arrive here, beating an immensely talented Cesar Chavez (last season’s runner up), the 2010 champion North, and pre-season # 1 Mesa High School. Anyone not believe the Bronco’s are for real?

Mountain View is playing as if they expect to win the championship. And who can blame them? They are steamrolling over every opponent by 26 points on average. The Toros play a tough schedule during the regular season and in several pre-season tournaments exactly for this day. They want to be prepared. They have one of the best Arizona high school coaches in Gary Ernst. The Toros have Expectation and Tradition on their side.

Mountain View plays a patient game and works the ball around for the best shot. This is not the most talent Coach Ernst has ever had but this team works together more than any team in Arizona.

Who Wins the 5A – I Arizona High School Basketball Championship
I am going with underdog Brophy by a narrow margin, 56 – 53. It is very hard to pick against Coach Ernst and Mountain View. But I do like the three Brophy stars of Gammage, Tummala and Harper just as much as the 4 headed monster of Mazzucco, Sweeney, Boone and Bingham. It will be a tight, close and defensive game.

Defense and Turnovers will determine the 5A – I Arizona high school boys championship. Whoever wins those battles wins the game. This won’t be a game so much about offense as it is about controlling the boards and minimizing/creating turnovers.

5A – I Semi Final Games

How our 5A – I Semi-Final Round Predictions Fared
GAME ONE: We successfully predicted BOTH victories in the semi-finals. Mountain View over Buena seemed like a no-brainer. That gives us an 11 – 3 record in predicting games in the 5A-I bracket. Mtn View played more quality opponents, particularly in a few pre-season tournments. Buena breezed through a much easier regular season. Combine that with their usual stellar Toro coaching and anyone could have predicted a Toro win.

GAME TWO: Predicting Brophy over Mesa High took a little more gall, considering the Broncos were defeated twice by the Jackrabbits already this year. However, anyone who watched Mesa play this season had to be more than concerned that their one-man scoring approach likely would come back to haunt them. Brophy’s team-first approach was a much better match in this game. The Broncos rolled to a bigger win than ony could have predicted.

Brophy’s Team Approach

Secures Place in Title Game

Brophy had lost to Mesa High twice during the regular season. Yet, that was no worry for the Broncos as they withstood 58 points from ASU bound Jahii Carson to stun the Jackrabbits by a score of 96 – 82.

Jahii Carson shot 24 – 35 from the field, 1 -3 from three point land, and 7 – 9 from the free throw line. Desmond Medder scored 15 points but most of those came in the final four minutes of the game after Carson had fouled out. The next high scorer for Mesa was Trent Molesworth with 3 points and three other player with two points each. Simply put, there was too much Carson and too little everyone else. Not that anyone else on Mesa really received much of an opportunity to shoot or score in this game.

Compare that stat line to the balanced scoring by Brophy:
James Harper 20 points (6 – 9 field goals, 9 – 12 free throws)
Fred Gammage 19 points (12 – 16 free throws)
Sai Tummala 17 points (8 – 9 field goals)
Jordan Medi 13 points

As Jahii Carson will learn at the next level, the best team is usually the team that works together. Mesa High had enough working parts on this team to win a title. But it is a coaching decision to allow one player to have that much control over a game and how much involvement your teammates have or do not have in the game.

If the Mesa High coaching staff has one potentially legitimate complaint in this game, it is the wide disparity in free throws.
Mesa High: 14 – 23 from the foul line
Brophy: 35 – 53 from the foul line

The referees stood out in this game and sometimes did not let the play just flow. One ref in particular, the one who tossed Coach Burcar, needs to learn to let the high intensity of coaches and players roll off his shoulders a little better. It did appear he tossed the Mesa High coach easily and quickly, leading some to speculate that his dislike for Mesa or its coaches is real, as some suggested elsewhere.

Mountain View Steamrolls Buena Colts

When Mountain View jumped out to an 18 – 2 first quarter lead, it was apparent they would be moving on to the title game. That was at least apparent to anyone not from Buena. You cannot let a good Toro team coached by Gary Ernst jump out to a commanding lead and expect to win.

It appeared the Colts came out a bit star struck by the large facility as they were flat footed and cold from the floor. It was also surprising that Coach Dave Glasgow held them in the locker room just until it was time to begin the 3rd quarter. What his players likely needed was less locker room and more time on the floor working out their shot and and tightness of playing in a big game.

For the Toros, this game was a tale of two halves. Kyle Bingham and Jaren Sweeney were the catalysts as both players hit big shots in the first. The second half was owned by Camyn Boone. Held to 3 points in the first half, Boone exploded for 12 in the second half.

Buena struggled from the field all evening. They shot 13 – 34 from the field and 4 – 11 from beyond the arc. They had moments when the Colts created turnovers and made mini runs, but Coach Ernst quickly called timeouts to squash any comeback.

It was too bad Buena did not make more of a game because they brought a huge contingent of parents and students, including a cheer squad and band. They were loud, vocal and fun to watch. Buena has a ton of underclassmen, and could emerge in 2012 as a serious contender once again. On behalf of their excited fans, let’s hope so.

ROUND ONE

Here is a breakdown of our 5A-I First Round Predictions:

We finished 6 – 2 in round one. Our mistakes in round one were going with too many visiting teams. Desert Vista was the only road team to win in round one, as they defeated Tucson Salpointe. Not a big upset as that game featured 9th and 8th ranked squads.

We correctly picked Mountain View over Mesquite, Buena over Kofa, Corona del Sol over Desert Ridge, North over Red Mountain, and Mesa High over Tucson.

We incorrectly picked Cesar Chavez over Brophy and Hamilton over Mountain Pointe. There is a chance Brophy can play for the title, so that first round prediction for them to lose now looks like real bone headed pick.

In other round one games, # 1 Buena barely edged #16 ranked Kofa at home, narrowly winning 57 – 52. That is exactly why everyone has given the Buena Colts little respect heading into this tournament. In reality, they are about a 6th or 7th seed, proving the power rankings need tweeking. If they defeat Desert Vista there is no way they get around the Toros.

In the other bracket, we are leaning toward Brophy making it to the championship game. Brophy plays North on the road and it’s a toss up in reality. But assuming they beat the North Mustangs we are predicting they will get past Mesa High, which should defeat Mountain Pointe at home.

We apologize to all Mesa High coaches, players and fans but no matter whether North or Brophy is their opponent we have to lean toward both those clubs over the Jackrabbits. The reasoning is simple – those other teams are far more balanced. Mesa leans too heavily on it’s one star player.

Round Two

Here is a breakdown of our 5A-I second round predictions:

We finished 3 – 1. Games we picked correctly were Mountain View defeating Corona del Sol, Brophy over North, and Mesa High over MountainPointe. We missed on the Buena/Desert Vista game but this was a one point victory on Buena’s home court, so it was a very close game.
After round one it has become incredibly clear that if Mountain View can get by Corona del Sol, it has a much easier road to the championship game than anyone has imagined, at least compared to the other bracket which is loaded with great matchups.

Our Fearless Round Two Predictions

Desert Vista – winner
Buena
NO
With their win over Tucson Salpointe on the road, Desert Vista has to be excited to travel to Sierra Vista to take on the Colts, an away game or not. Having played a much tougher schedule, we like Desert Vista in this game.

Corona del Sol
Mountain View – winner
YES
Wow, tough game to call. The teams split their series, ironically each team winning on the road. Mtn View won the initial meeting back on December 13, 49 – 40. Corona came into the Toro gym on January 25 and left victorious 50 – 43. This has all the makings of a classic game. We are giving the home team a very slight advantage.

If this were any other team we might side with the Aztecs. But it’s hard to beat a good Mountain View team at home in the playoffs.

Brophy – winner
North
YES
This is the mistake we made in round one – going for the road team too often. However, Brophy is no average team. Then again, neither is North. We are siding against the home team in half the games. Uh oh.

Mountain Pointe
Mesa – winner
YES
Jahii Carson has one more big game up his sleeve. They play at home in front of their raucus crowd. It will be another win for the Jackrabbits and send them to Jobing.com arena against the Brophy-North winner. Whether Mesa High wins a title or not, it is fitting for Arizona to get to see Jahii Carson play at Jobing.com. He has earned that trip. Charles Croxen will not be available for this game due to his two technicals in the Tucson game. It is an unfortunate situation for the Jackrabbits who should win this game. Only time will tell whether Croxens unavailability deters his team from winning this game

2nd Round 5A-I Tournament

We finished 3 -1 in round two, missing on the Desert Vista and Buena game. It did surprise us that Buena won the game, even though they were at home. They barely edged # 16 Kofa at home in round one while Desert Vista won their initial game on the road.

However, we correctly picked the other three tournament games.

Mountain View over Corona del Sol – we picked Mtn View but not by the surprisingly easy 67 – 42 victory.

Brophy over North was a lucky pick. But we liked Brophy’s overall balance, which is critical in tournament play.

We went with Mesa High in this game but almost picked Mountain Pointe, because the Jackrabbits are a Jahii Carson team and four other good players. However, Mesa had really good contributions from several players at critical moments during a tense game. Trent Molesworth may deserve the MVP of this game as he hit some very crucial shots for Mesa. Yeah, Carson scored his usual 37 but if not for his teammates hitting clutch shots their season would be over.

Semi-Final Round

Semi-Final Predictions at Jobing.com Arena

# 4 Mountain View vs # 1 Buena
I am going with Mountain View as the clear victor in this game. They are playing lights out and no one prepares his team for tournament play better than long time Toros coach Gary Ernst. Buena barely edged #16 Kofa at home and beat Desert Vista at by a single point in the second round, also on their home floor. Mountain View is battle tested. We do give kudos to Buena for making it to the semi’s considering they received little love from most observers. Final score Mountain View 68, Buena 57.

# 6 Brophy vs # 2 Mesa
Beating the higher ranked North at home (which we correctly picked) was huge for the Broncos. But Mesa is playing great too and showed tremendous character in beating Mountain Pointe after the energized Lions grabbed the lead over the Jackrabbits in the fourth quarter. I am leaning toward Brophy in a very close game. Mesa seems to play all their games close and, while that benefited them against Mountain Pointe, it will cost them in the semi-finals. The edge will go to Brophy doing enough to keep Jahii Carson around 30 points while shutting down the rest of the Jackrabbit team. Final score Brophy 72, Mesa 67.

Read Arizona High School

Basketball Games Below

In a game of top 10 teams, the Mesa Jackrabbits played host to the Dobson Mustangs on December 13, 2012 in a game featured on Cox.

Dobson jumped out to an 11-4 lead and appeared the better team but trailed by 15 – 14 after one quarter. However, Mesa, led by DJ “The Will to Win” Henderson, went on a subsequent 22-4 run and took Dobson almost completely out of the game, leading at one point by 22. Dobson could not buy an outside shot and suffered a case of too much individual play.

Dobson roared back in the 3rd quarter and trailed only by 7 entering the fourth quarter. But with their vocal crowd playing sixth man Mesa increased their lead once again in the final period and handily won this game 57 – 40.

My Take-Aways from this Game

Mesa is hard to beat on their own floor. I saw them in their Fear the Hop tourney a few weeks back (this year and many previous seasons) and know they hold court very well. Their fans give Mesa as big of a boost as any Arizona school. My concern is how they will do in tournament time away from the Mesa gym.

6′ 10″ Junior Isaac “Just Turn and Shoot” Allen has a load of potential but he plays like a small man around the basket. Too often he will hold the ball 5-6 feet from the basket and choose to pass out. If a kid that big has the ball that close – please turn around and use the backboard for an easy bucket.

Not to pick too hard on Mr. Allen because he did a nice job on the boards and had a couple of nifty jump hooks, ala Kareem, that were pleasant to see. But this is a kid that could dominate if shown how. He was being defended by a Dobson player with a far less skill set. If I were coaching Isaac Allen would be told to get 20 pts and 10 boards every single game. I bet he would if given those expectations.

DJ “The Will to Win” Henderson is the heart and soul of this team, though other players on this team are a big part too. This kid can shoot if you let him have the open shot and he plays his heart out every single second. Mesa has team chemistry and that is a great luck charm to possess.

Dobson has the talent to win a championship but one has to wonder if this will be a team people will look back and wonder how they blew such a great opportunity. When you are dealing with young kids it can be hard to get them to see the big picture.

Take Jaron Hopkins, for example. He was the most talented player on the floor in this game but he needs to better understand team ball. That alone is likely to cost this team a deep run in the state playoffs. On one play he soared high to the rim for a slam dunk but the ball bounced out. Just make the basket Jaron with a basic layup! Beauty means very little in sports if you lose.

Kodi “The Team Player” Justice needs to look for his own shot more. Too often he drove the lane and had a layup or uncontested jump shot but instead fed teammates. Justice and Hopkins have the opposite challenges at this point but the burden falls on Hopkins to mature into a team player or risk looking back at a season of what could have been.

Transfer Ryan “Skill Set” Richardson has talent and can really help this team if allowed. I would like to see Dobson run more plays to get Richardson his own shot. Too often Mr. Hopkins did his individual thing and other players end up watching. That behavior saps a team of ball movement and finding the open man mentality.

We like Coach McConnell and hope he can help these talented players adjust to a team-oriented style over the next month. One final note: a kid walks into the Mesa gym just before game time and I wondered where I had seem him before. It was a puzzle until a friend pointed out the obvious – it was Jahi Carson. Keep up the good work, young man.

Mesa High defeats Mountain Pointe

Advances to Semi-Finals versus Brophy at Jobing.com Arena

February 26, 2011

5A-I Arizona High School Basketball Tournament:
Mountain Pointe 66 vs Mesa High 72

Mesa High Overcomes

Tenacious Tucson Badgers

1st Round 5A-I Tournament Game played on February 23, 2011.

What a great game tonight at Mesa High School. This game featured quick and guard laden teams going at it for 32 minutes.

The Tucson Badgers played man to man defense the entire contest and put Mesa to a stiff test. The Badgers might be the only team Mesa played this season that is quicker.

Tucson employed a 4 and 5 guard line up, so they matched up well with the Jackrabbits, forcing them into 15 turnovers for the game. Mesa also played good defense and forced Tucson into 18 tournovers.

Mesa jumped out quick to start the game with a 15 to 4 lead after one period. The Badgers regrouped and played very aggressive, cutting the lead to 26 to 20 at the half.

The Jackrabbits every shot was contested by Tucson and only connected on one 3 pointer for the game. Since the long shot was not available, Mesa’s strategy became simple – take everything to the basket. As a result they ended up shooting 45% from the field and got a lot of foul calls with their aggressive offense. Mesa was saved by shooting 31 for 37 from the charity stripe for 84%.

Tucson continued with their aggressive defense in the third and cut the lead to one point. Mesa called a timeout, then came out driving to the hole past the Tucson defenders. They regained a 9 point lead 47 to 38 after three quarters.

The tense 4th quarter action had all the fans on their toes. Tucson got hot and cut the lead to three for most of the fourth. With 4 minutes left to play Charles Croxen was tagged with his second technical foul and was ejected. Throughout the evening the game had become increasingly physical, and with plenty of on-court trash talking.

Earlier in the game the referees called a double technical and were attempting to maintain control of the game. With Croxen’s ejection, he may not be available to play against Mountain Pointe on Saturday. Croxen had 9 pts 4 assists and 2 steals, Mesa will miss him deeply in the next game.

Toward the end of the game, Tucson intentionally fouled to get the ball back but as they have done all season long, Mesa consistently hit their foul shots. The final score had Mesa winning, 68 to 60.

Jahii Carson finished with 38 pts 5 rebs and 4 steals. Trent Molesworth added 14 pts 3 rebs. Ben Quevas came off the bench and was a huge help grabbing 4 rebs scoring 2 pts and dishing out 5 assists. His defense was teriffic.

Written by Jeff Julander Sr

Mountain View Dispatches Mesquite

Round One, 5A-I Tournament at Mountain View on February 23, 2011

The game was less than a minute old and when a group of Mesquite students threw a handful of chalk dust into the air (ala LeBron James) causing the fire alarm in the Toro gym to blare loudly and the floor to need swept multiple times. A group of about fifteen Wildcat student fans were tossed and seemingly everything was downhill for Mesquite from that moment on.

The first quarter saw Mountain View steady their lead to 17 – 10. By halftime, the Toro advantage grew to 37 – 18, led by Camy Boone’s 16 points and Mark Mazzucco with 11 pts. Mesquite only scored 8 in the third period and never recovered. They lost the game, 73 – 47.

Mesquite simply had no answer for Boone inside as Mountain View continued to pound the ball down low. The Toros only attempted a couple of three point shots, as their decisive size advantage was too much for the Wildcats to handle.

Camy Boone dominated the third period as well as he finished with a game high 25 pts on 10 – 12 shooting. He also hit all 5 free throw attempts. For the game Mountain View was a solid 15 – 20 from the line.

Mesquite was led by Jason Garrettson who scored one above his season average with 18 pts, half of which came from the line. Garrettson was aggressive in driving to the basket and drawing numerous Toro fouls. Sami Bzai, who leads Mesquite with eighteen points per game, only scored 7 points as he attempted most of his shots from beyond the three point line. Credit the Toro defense.

Bzai was a disappointing 1 – 8 from long range. In the 2nd half he tried to drive to the basket more but by then it appeared his confidence was not there. As a team Mesquite shot a dismal 5 – 24 from three point land.

Most of the Mesquite team comes back next year. Expect them to garner a higher seed come 2012 tournament time. We love the coaching hire they made. This is a team on the rise, this game notwithstanding.

Mountain View next plays Corona del Sol in round two. The Aztecs beat Mountain Ridge 74 – 43 in their first round game.

Fearless 5A-I Tournament Predictions

Round One

#16 Kofa
#1 Buena – winner
Buena is lucky they escaped having to play a team like Mesquite in the first round, which I would have picked to beat the tournament’s top ranked team based on power points. But Buena should beat Kofa in this game.

#9 Desert Vista – winner
#8 Salpointe –
Salpointe won some good games against tough opponents Amphitheater, North, and Buena. Desert Vista also beat Mesa, Brophy and North. This game is what you would expect from a nine and eight seed – a tossup.

#12 Desert Ridge
# 5 Corona del Sol – winner
Corona has attitude, which can be a real plus if used correctly, and I believe they do. They are talented but not a hot dog type team (like McClintock). Corona is a force to be reckoned with. No matter what happens this tourney next year they will the odds on favorite to win. Desert Ridge does not have many signature wins this year. They lost to Mesquite, Mountain Pointe (twice), Mesa and Corona del Sol. This should be a solid victory for the Aztecs.

#13 Mesquite
# 4 Mountain View – winner
Mountain View is too disciplined to lose to a scrappy Wildcat club. Too bad for Mesquite to get this draw as they might have been able to beat some other teams in this tournament. The Wildcats have a good, new coach who has instilled much needed discipline. Mesquite works as hard as any team in Arizona but they likely do not have the talent to beat Mountain View. If Mesquite wins, it will be a pretty big upset because most observers consider Mtn View one of the top 3 teams in 5A-I, if not the entire state.

#14 Red Mountain
# 3 North – winner
These teams met on Nov 22, 2010 and Red Mountain pulled out a 64 – 60 win. The Mountain Lions are 5 – 14 in their past 19 games, losing to teams like Desert Vista, Mesa, Chandler and Brophy. North has all the tools to win the title this year. However, they have not had a formidable game since mid-January. Signature wins against Desert Vista, Mesa and Brophy, but those were all earlier in the year. Still, we expect a double digit victory for North.

#11 Cesar Chavez – winner
# 6 Brophy
Wow – great matchup. You gotta love a first round game like this. While I did not see Brophy play this season I did see Cesar Chavez. They have the talent to make it to the finals again if they play up to their potential. Brophy is playing well with 6 wins in their past 8 games. During that stretch they beat good teams like Desert Vista, Chandler (twice), Hamilton and Red Mountain. Forget the rankings, this is a toss up.

# 10 Hamilton – winner
# 7 Mountain Pointe
Mountain Pointe is coming off 9 consecutive victories. Yet, looking at the regular season schedules Hamilton has played much tougher opponents. While they have lost to good teams like Mesa (twice by 5 pts total), Red Mountain and Brophy they did beat a good Desert Vista team two times.

# 15 Tucson
# 2 Mesa – winner
This is a great test for Jahii Carson, as Arizona’s top basketball player to show his mettle. Mesa has kids that play hard but Carson has to carry this team.

Arizona State HS Basketball Tournament

I will be the first to admit it is hard to make solid predictions about the state basketball tournament, considering it’s hard to see every single team play during the season. I did not see teams like North, Buena, Brophy or Desert Vista.

Yet, here are some thoughts about some of the teams we did see play during this 2010-2011 Arizona high school basketball season.

Mountain View

First of all, Coach Gary Ernst has a lovely wife. I happened to exit my vehicle in the Mequite parking lot about the same time and struck up a conversation as we walked toward the gym. In her red sweater I just assumed another friendly Toro parent was heading to watch a child play. I had no clue who she was, until we were about to enter the building. A very warm and engaging person.

Ok, back to basketball.

Mountain View is still the best coached high school basketball team I saw this year, and that view rarely changes from year to year. However, they are missing that one star quality player that past Toro teams have featured. The key for Mountain View is defense and Mark Mazzucco. Say what you want about players like Jaren Sweeney and Camyn Boone, it is Mazzucco who leads this team. He is the rock that steadies this group.

It is silly to not expect Mountain View to play for the title this year. It’s possible any number of teams can beat Mountain View on any given night. But you have to expect they will play solid team defense and score just enough to win every game.

Mesa High School

I cannot help but root for the Jackrabbits and would not be disappointed to see them win the 5A-I crown. Jahii Carson commits to ASU (thank you) and carries the Jackrabbits team on his shoulders game after game. He plays big and plays hard. He plays with all his heart. You gotta love a kid like that. And he plays at a school that does not have the financial advantages of many other schools.

Yet, Mesa counts on their star player perhaps more than other team in the playoffs. If Jahii has a bad game (has he?) his team may not have enough support to overcome that in the playoffs. They won a bunch of games by close margins. Is that a good thing, or a warning sign?

Corona del Sol

The Aztecs may be Calaen Robinson’s team but Corona is not a one man team. This is a group loaded with good underclassmen.

Have you seen Casey Benson play? That young man is only a freshman…..YES FRESHMAN and yet he had me thinking he was a junior with the composure he displays on the court. Corona del Sol plays like a team with attitude and that is a good trait in the playoffs. Do they have what it takes to win the title this year? I am not so sure. But watch out next season!!!

Cesar Chavez

It would not surprise me to see this team play for the title, or at least make it to the final four. They have athleticism overflowing. This is a very hard working group, defensively. Yet, during a late season game versus Mountain View they seemed to stumble on the offensive end. They got rattled and lost focus while only down by 5 points with about 5 minutes left in the game. Maybe playing in front of a raucus home Toro crowd will do that to you? In the playoffs, you cannot get rattled and lose focus.

Chavez may be as talented as anyone in the field. Their defensive potential is equal to any other team. But potential and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee. Can they harness that talent for a full game? Can they work the ball around for the best shot? Or, will they settle for quick 3′s, as they did that evening against Mtn View, where the ended up losing by 21 because they missed something like 9 three point shots in a row.

If Chavez concentrated on taking the best shot on every single possession they would be my popular pick, because their defense is good enough. But based on the one game I saw, it is hard to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Mesquite

Ok, so Mesquite has almost no chance to win a 5A-I title this year. But I came away so impressed with this team the one game I witnessed (a five point loss versus Mountain View back on January 28th).

In his first season, Coach Burns has brought a new identity to the Wildcat experience – discipline. Mesquite began the season 4 – 7. They went 9 – 5 the rest of the way. I am assuming it took a handful of games for the players to buy into Coach Burns team-first philosophy but whatever he is doing is good. Mesquite plays hard for an entire game and rarely takes plays off. They don’t have the talent to win a title but do not be shocked to see them knock off a team like Buena, should they meet in round one.

Other Teams

Unfortunately, the real world and work interferes with my love of high school basketball. I never had a chance to see Buena, Desert Vista, North, Mountain Pointe, Brophy, Hamilton and other teams. From what I have read Desert Vista and North can be a force. Many do not seem to give Buena a chance due to the schedule they played. And anyone who has been around sports can attest that a tough regular season schedule can come in handy at playoff time. Like Mesa traveling to New York for a tournment and the many local and out of state teams that played in the Arizona Basketball Challenge.

Another Close Win for the Jackrabbits

Mesa went into Hamilton last Thursday, February 10th, to try and complete their conference winning schedule. They came away with a very tough 71 – 68 win. Call it a tale of two halves.

Mesa jumped out to a 21 to 10 lead after the first quarter behind the hot shooting of Jahii Carson. The Jackrabbits seemed to dominate at every spot, even though Hamilton posed a much bigger lineup.

At half time, Mesa extended the lead to 44 to 29. Jahii Carson led all scorers with 32 pts. With their scrambling defense, Mesa forced 10 Hamilton turnovers and took advantage of those miscues.

In the second half Hamilton changed their game plan. They double and sometimes triple-teamed Jahii Carson, forcing him to give up the ball. As a result he only made 1 field goal the entire second half and forced some bad shots.

Other Mesa High players had to score to win this game. Freshmen Christian Harris helped with 7 pts, Charles Croxen had 8 pts, Anthony Garcia had 8 pts, and three other players added 3 pts. Jahii Cason ended up with 7 assists to combat the defensive pressure on himself and also went to the line 20 times, making 17 to secure the victory.

Mesa shot 80% from the line, the type of performance they will need in the state tournament. Hamilton could not play well enough from behind to make up the difference. Hamilton out-rebounded Mesa 31 to 18 but the 17 turnovers killed them.

Mesa is currently ranked 3rd in 5A-I with an overall record of 18 – 5 and league record of 9 – 1.

Jack Cone’s 30 points led Hamilton. He was followed in scoring by Eric Jacobsen and Michael Garcia, both of whom scored ten points each.

Written by Jeff Julander, Sr.

Mesa Wins Final Home Game of 2011

Mesa won their final home game of the season last night defeating the Chandler Wolves, 80 to 67.

Mesa came out firing on all cylinders and raced to a 30 to 10 lead after one period. As a team, they were 5 of 6 from three point range.

In the second quarter Chandler stepped up their defense and played full court press, which forced Mesa into turnovers and bad shots. Chandler cut the lead to 11 going into the locker room, trailing 43 to 32.

Chandler is very athletic but cannot shoot from outside consistently. As a result, they take everything to the basket strong and draw a lot of foul calls. Mesa’s Desmond Medder and Anthony Garcia both fouled out.

Mesa re-established their game going back up by 20 taking a 68 to 48 lead after three quarters. Chandler was playing catch up the whole game and just did not have enough horses to keep up with the Jackrabbits.

Jahii Carson finished with 37 pts 4 rbs and 5 assists along with a steal, with ASU’s coach Herb Sendek in the stands. I guess he is checking up on his point guard for next year.

Charles Croxen finished with 14 pts 7 rbs 4 assists and 3 steals. Trent Molesworth helped with 6 pts and 8 rbs. The brightest spot was that Mesa outrebounded the wolves 32 to 17. Desmond Medder also contrbuted 11 pts and 5 rbs, Miles Taylor added 6 pts and 2 rbs and Anthony Garcia had 4 pts 2 rbs and 2 assists.

Written by Jeff Julander Sr