Corona del Sol turns tables on Mtn. View in boys basketball

January 25, 2011 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Six  weeks ago Mesa Mountain View put the clamps on Corona del Sol on the Aztecs home floor with a 49-40 win the night of the 5A state championship football games. On Tuesday night Corona returned the favor.

With guard Calaen Robinson playing his best all-around game of the season and the Aztecs defense clogging the middle after the first 12 minutes or so, Corona seized control and beat the Toros, 50-43, in a 5A Central Region game at Toro Gym.

The victory enabled Corona to bounce back from a region loss to Mesquite last Friday and show it has the mettle to play with the Toros, on the road no less. Corona now sits one game back of Mountain View for the region lead.

Robinson, a 6-foot-2 junior, put up 21 points to lead all scorers and dulled a Mountain View rally in the second half with three consecutive threes. The first was a 30-foot desperation shot at the third period buzzer that banked in and gave the Aztecs a 35-30 lead heading to the fourth. The next two were conventional and came in the early moments of the fourth supplying Corona with a double-digit lead the Toros weren't able to budge much the rest of the way.

"That three he hit at the end of the third and then starting the fourth with two was the turning point," Mountain View coach Gary Ernst said.

"Huge," echoed Corona del Sol coach Sammy Duane of the third-period buzzer beater. "I'm really pround of him (Robinson). He didn't force the issue and made strides in that regard. Our defense played well. We did better inside after we got some help inside."

The help came from 6-6 junior Andrus Peat in the first half. Together with starting junior post Avery Moss and fellow starter Braden Tennyson, the Aztecs (16-3, 5-2) stopped the easy inside basketsmade a living on early. Mountain View (16-3, 6-1) scored on layups or five-footers from big men eight times in the first half. Just twice after intermission.

Mountain View not only suffered a loss in the standings but on the floor as well. The Toros were already without starting point guard Jeff Kerr for the third straight game with a pulled leg muscle. In the second quarter Tuesday leading scorer Jaren Sweeney suffered a right ankle sprain and did not return. Ernst said preliminary estimate has Sweeney out a week to two weeks. He also will have an X-ray Wednesday to make sure there is no break.

"Without our point guard and our leading scorer we were scrambling to figure out what to do," Ernst said. "They made it tough to get it inside. Mark (Mazzucco) had to play the point and that took away from things he can do."

Overall Corona's backcourt totaled 42 of its 50 points. Freshman Casey Benson had 13 points and Rashidi Kabamba added eight off the bench -- six in the second period. Kyle Bingham led Mountain View with 11 points.