If the results of two opening tournaments are any indicator, Salpointe Catholic and Catalina Foothills will live up to their billings as two of the best high school boys basketball teams in Tucson.
Both captured Thanksgiving week tournaments with decisive wins on Saturday. The Lancers won their second Salpointe Tip-Off Class in three years under coach Jim Reynolds with a 73-35 victory over Tucson High. Senior Grant Weitman was the catalyst for Salpointe, scoring 20 points — 16 coming in a runaway first half.
Weitman was named tournament MVP. He was joined by fellow seniors Evan Nelson and Jordan Gainey on the 10-player all-tournament team. Desert View senior Uriel Olivares, who produced bookend 34-point efforts in the four-game tournament, also made the all-tournament team. So did Ironwood Ridge’s Ryan Drescher, Nogales’ Julian Grijalva, Pueblo’s Zach Morgan, Canyon del Oro’s Antonio Vasquez, Sahuarita’s Byran Brown and Tucson High’s Mark Hunter.
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Meanwhile, over at the Dick McConnell Classic, Catalina Foothills faced a surprise challenger in the final. Sahuaro upset anticipated co-finalist Cholla, 47-46, in earlier semifinal play. The Cougars were no match for the Foothills’ height in the final, however. Foothills’ 6-foot-9-inch center, Will Menaugh, poured in 9 of his 13 points in a five-minute span to break open a close game early in second half, and the Falcons won 59-48. Guard Carson Peabody matched Menagh’s performance with 13 points, eight coming in the first half.
Sahuaro was led by senior guard Kyle Hubbuch, who scored nine points in the second half after pouring in 14 against Cholla. Senior forward Zach Bates had 14 points, 10 coming in the first half for the Cougars.
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• The senior-freshman combination of Josiah Prior and Vince Edwards carried The Gregory School in its 47-27 victory over San Miguel, with the two combining for 33 points. The duo dominated the boards as well, each pulling down 13 rebounds last Monday.
Prior led all scorers with 20 points while adding five assists and five steals to his stat line. The freshman Edwards was more efficient, fashioning his 13 points on 5 of 7 from the field and 3 of 4 from the charity stripe.
• Sierra Vista Buena senior guard Jovany Featherstonfell one point short of the century mark for three exhibition games at the round-robin Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Classic held in Sierra Vista. Another player making a good first impression at SSVEC was Sells Baboquivari freshman guard Kota Benson.
JT Grossmith is a Tucson-based freelancer. Contact him at tucsonboysbb@gmail.com.
