Junior Jared Irwin and sophomore Sam Beskind combined for 35 points to help fuel No. 10 Catalina Foothills past No. 23 Queen Creek 73-56 in the first round of the Division II state tournament on Thursday night.
The Falcons (15-4) led from start to finish, but it was a 22-9 third quarter that broke the game open, despite missing senior standout Nik Niehls, who sat out the game because of a “school decision.”
Both teams were coming off losses in their section championship but Foothills had won eight straight before that.
“We knew we had to come out hard,” Irwin said. “We lost in sectionals so our last game was pretty awful. We knew we had to make up for it and everything just went our way.”
The Falcons travel to play No. 7 Scottsdale Saguaro on Saturday for a chance to move on to the state quarterfinals Foothills hasn’t made it to the quarterfinals since 2010 when it was in 4A-I and the brackets were just 16 team deep.
The Falcons have now outscored opponents 594-467 over the last 10 games.
The Bulldogs (12-9) did pull within nine with three minutes to go but Foothills’ balanced scoring was too much to overcome. Six of seven players who scored, finished with at least eight.
“We were able to overcome some deficiencies and big kids stepped up and made big time plays,” said Falcons coach Doug D’Amore. “They took good shots within the offense. Nothing was really forced tonight. I think that was a big difference.”
Irwin scored a team-high 18, including 11 in the first half, nine of which came on threes. He finished with five makes from three-point range.
Beskind was second on the team with 17 points, including nine the second half. He was one of three players, along with seniors Ryan Green and Bobby Padilla, to score at least six in the fourth. Green finished with 11.
-Jason Harris
No. 15 Salpointe Catholic 81, No. 18 Tempe Marcos de Niza 51
Salpointe Catholic Lancers cruised to an easy 81-51 victory over No. 18 the Tempe Marcos de Niza on Thursday night, moving on to the second round of the Division II state tournament.
Salpointe senior forward Ethan Parkhurst scored 26 points and junior guard Cameron Miller added 19. The Lancers play at second-seeded Avondale Agua Fria on Saturday night.
“It means a lot because this is my first playoff game,” Parkhurst said. “I just wanted to come out and give the team my all. I just tried to attack the rim as much as I could because I felt that if I attacked the rim, I’d get my team started.”
Salpointe started the game off on an 8-0 run in the first couple of minutes. However, the Padres stormed back on a run of their own and only trailed by one at the end of the first quarter. The Padres held their largest lead of the game at 28-22 after Zurell Livingston knocked down two 3-pointers. However, Salpointe ended the first half on a 9-0 run to take half at 31-28.
“It’s the time of year you want to peak and I think we do a lot of things to peak at this time,” Salpointe coach Brian Holstrom said. “I thought even in the first half when things weren’t going great, a guy like Alec McCall is diving all over the place. He got a standing ovation in the first half. That kind of effort and the way that were peaking I hope is going to take us all the way.”
The second half was all Salpointe. The Lancers stepped up their defense and jumped to a quick 41-31 lead by the 5:21 mark in the third quarter. The Lancers never stepped off of the throttle as they continued to extend their lead and put the Padres away early.
Livingston led the Padres in scoring with 14 and Mason Clark added 13.
-Kyle Hansen
No. 19 Peoria Sunrise Mountain 70, No. 14 Cienega 57
Cienega’s boys basketball team led in the third quarter, but Peoria Sunrise Mountain pulled away late to beat the Bobcats 70-57 in the first round of the Division II tournament.
Cienega did not have an answer for Sunrise Mountain senior guard/forward Elijah Thomas, who had 36 points.
“I thought we played pretty hard, we played tough, we just ran into a kid who was flat out on fire,” Cienega coach Matt Johnson said. “Thomas was good tonight; we threw a lot of things at him and he kept making things. I feel bad because we played so hard, unfortunately they were just on fire.”
Thomas scored 17 in the first quarter. The St. Mary’s signee made seven 3-pointers.
“We knew he was good, we saw him over Christmas but we figured we’d try some different looks at him, some different zones, some box and one and he made it even in those stuff,” Johnson said.
Sophomore point guard Jordan Green and senior shooting guard Isaiah Murphy led the way for Bobcats with 15 points each.
Cienega led 12-5 early on but Sunrise Mountain took the lead on a 9-0 run and they finished the first quarter tied 20-20. Early in the third quarter Cienega took a 38-37 lead but Sunrise Mountain responded with a 10-2 run to take the lead for good.
“It was a great season,” Johnson said. “We played some of our best basketball down the stretch; this team really matured, I’m proud of my leaders, I’m proud of my seniors.”
-James Kelley
No. 16 Avondale La Joya 70, No. 17 Rincon/University 68
AVONDALE – After qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since the 2011-12 season, Rincon/University's boys basketball team dreamed of making a deep postseason run, even as the No. 17 seed into the Division II state tournament.
That dream was alive until the final ticks of Thursday’s first-round game, when it took three chances and a last-second putback to finally dash it.
Rincon came out on the wrong end of a thriller against No. 16 Avondale La Joya, which won 70-68 at home on a basket by Byron Young with two seconds to play.
After committing a turnover with 20 seconds left and the game tied, Rincon couldn’t corral the loose ball after a long missed shot by La Joya on its final possession. Young was able to grab not one but two offensive rebounds amid a sea of bodies in the paint, his second follow attempt finding the net to end Rincon’s season at 17-11 and send La Joya (21-5) into the second round to face top-seeded Phoenix Shadow Mountain on Saturday night.
“When you get to this point, you always think you’re going to go further,” said coach Rich Utter, who collected his 400th career win earlier this season, his 28th leading Rincon.
“A game that’s close like this, a couple mistakes at the end can be the difference. They did a great job crashing the boards, and on that last one we did a great job of defending, but they get one more try and it goes in.”
Rincon’s desperation heave at the buzzer missed and wouldn’t have counted, as officials ruled its player stepped out of bounds before releasing the ball near half court with under a second remaining
Rincon battled throughout Thursday, trailing for much of the first half but charging ahead in the third quarter, in which it outscored La Joya 21-12 to take a five-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Brendan Rumel, Rincon’s 6-foot-10 post player headed to Portland State next year, finished with 17 points, 20 rebounds and five blocks in his final high school game – one that lived up to every bit of anticipation, excepting the final score.
“The emotions during the game were at 100,” Rumel said. “Everyone was screaming, the crowd was crazy – you couldn’t hear anybody talk because the gym was so loud. It was a great atmosphere.
“At the end, it just came down to a bucket. It’s tough that it was their bucket and not ours.”
-Tyler Killian
