3A boys basketball: Valley Christian beats Pusch Ridge 57-44 to win 6th championship

February 23, 2019 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Valley Christian (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

3A BOYS BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

No. 2 Valley Christian (27-5) over No. 5 Pusch Ridge (26-5), 57-44

@vctrojans takes the trophy #azpreps365 pic.twitter.com/VGgBenJS5Z

— Andy Morales (@AZPreps365Andy) February 24, 2019

No. 2 Valley Christian beat No. 5 Pusch Ridge 57-44 Saturday to win the 3A boys championship played at Highland High School. The Trojans captured the sixth title in program history, and the first since 2014, while the Lions reached this level of play for the first time in school history and both squads had to get past difficult region foes to get to Saturday.

The Trojans made it to the semifinal round last year and the team knew another shot at the title would have go through No. 3 Paradise Honors, their 3A Metro West rivals. The two squads split their two region games and then the Panthers beat the Trojans in the Region Tournament two weeks ago and, when the state brackets were released, it was evident the two teams would be on a collision course and that’s just what happened.

Valley Christian beat Paradise Honors 67-52 in the semifinal round Friday and that’s the only game that mattered between the two. Likewise, Pusch Ridge and 3A South Region rival No. 8 Sabino split their two region games and the Sabercats blitzed the Lions 67-39 in the second meeting between the two but the Lions came out on top, 54-47 in their semifinal clash to set up the date with Valley Christian and the date was a good one.

@vctrojans Logan Phillips pic.twitter.com/dtSyYtGahE

— Andy Morales (@AZPreps365Andy) February 24, 2019

Known more for the success on the girl’s side with four championships and six final-game appearances, Pusch Ridge overcame three coaches in four years to finally break through and things were going great early with the Lions building a 12-5 lead over Valley Christian with 2:09 left in the first but the Trojans had experience on their side. That, and senior Jalen Grijalva.

Lucas Elliott was almost unstoppable on the inside for the Lions with six early points but two fouls limited his playing time, leaving the lane wide open for Grijalva and the quick guard took full advantage by scoring nine points by slashing through the lane to give the Lions a 23-19 lead at the half. Grijalva came out of the half and hit a quick 3-pointer and Pusch Ridge was unable to respond and the Trojans slowly pulled away from there and led 38-26 after three and held on for the 55-44 win.

“They have a lot of grit and determination,” said Valley Christian head coach Greg Haagsma. “They grind and grind and they believed they could do it early on. We lost Connor (Braun) for a month, Logan (Phillips) missed a week and Jalen was sick for several games but everyone just kept on grinding away. They earned this win against a great, great team.”

Erik Michaud took over a Lion program that had all the pieces, from steady big men to athletic wings to aggressive guard play and put it all together to produce something special on the court and off.

“I’m going to remember the friendships first because we were so close,” senior standout Jared Clark said on what transpired this year. “I’ve known some of these guys since kindergarten and we became even closer this year, that’s why it hurts so much. We truly have a close relationship not only in high school but also off the court.”

(Jared Clark/Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

Clark entered the playoffs with 956 points and it was unclear if he would be able to break 1,000 so it was pretty much kept in secret but he hit that mark against Sabino and he scored 15 more in the championship to lead the Lions. Elliott added another 15 points and Brandon Ripperdan scored eight.

“I’ll remember the family dynamics and how they came together,” Michaud added. “I told them win or lose, we are going to do this as a family and we did. I asked them to change the culture of the program and the direction and they accepted that challenge.”

On the other side, Grijalva stepped to the free throw line as time was expiring to chants of “MVP” from the near-capacity crowd and the junior ended with 18 points and Phillips led all scorers with 20. Zach Timmer added nine and Braun scored eight.

Jalen Grijalva @vctrojans talks MVP chant #AZPreps365 pic.twitter.com/VZwQ7T9w5P

— Andy Morales (@AZPreps365Andy) February 24, 2019