The most dominating basketball team in Tucson is 26-1, outscores its opponents by 32 points per game and is coached by A.J. Albritton, the most recent link to Dick McConnell’s esteemed coaching family.
The Gregory School Hawks are led by senior guard Nick Rosquist, who has scored 2,048 points, the fifth highest total in Tucson boys prep history, and by junior Addison Mort, who plays more like a Class 6A player than one from 1A.
“Our plan,” says Albritton, “is to win the state championship.”
The Gregory School (then St. Gregory’s) won state championships in 2008 and 2009 under Paul Baranowski, going 35-1 and 32-3. Now comes Albritton and Rosquist, part of a new way of high school basketball in this state.
Rosquist could’ve played — and been a standout — at any level but chose to attend the academically intense Gregory School, where his teammates rank such schools as Carnegie-Mellon on their must-attend list.
Because high school basketball has become a year-round endeavor now, Rosquist spends half of the year playing on the AAU circuit, for David Thomas’ Arizona Power organization. He also spent time working with Albritton’s travel team, Just Hoops.
“I’ve heard from a lot of schools, from Division I to NAIA,” says Rosquist, whose career high is 49 points. “I’m going to play another season of AAU ball before making a decision.”
In last Tuesday’s 104-51 victory over Academy of Tucson, Rosquist scored 16 points in the game’s first 3:42. It was a blur. It was Steph Curry stuff. He swished two 3-pointers, stole two passes and converted them to layups before the game was two minutes old. Albritton pulled his starters early; Rosquist scored 30 points in just 17 minutes.
Now comes the payoff. The Gregory School will learn the Class 1A state tournament brackets next Monday. Assuming all goes well, they should be 29-1 entering the championship game in Prescott Valley on Feb. 25.
“Our only loss was (Dec. 6) at San Carlos, in overtime, and San Carlos is a bigger school, Class 2A,” said Albritton. “Last year we peaked about a month too early (finishing 25-6). This year we’re working to make our timing better.”
Albritton, who played at Sahuaro High under McConnell, and later at William Penn College in Iowa and then Pima College, is in his first year as head coach at the Gregory School.
“You don’t often get players like Addison Mort and Nick Rosquist at this level,” he said. “When you do, you need to make the best of it.”
