By Don Ketchum

Scottsdale Saguaro’s football team had a pretty good football team last fall, winning the Class 4A Division I state championship.

The Sabercats’ boys basketball team isn’t too bad, either.

On Tuesday night (Feb. 8) the team showed it should be a force to be reckoned with when the state tournament begins by picking up a 66-50 victory over visiting Peoria.

Saguaro, No. 2 in power points entering this week, raised its record to 20-8. Peoria, No. 3 in power points, fell to 19-6.

Sophomore guard Ryan Berg led a balanced scoring effort for Saguaro with 17, including a pair of three-pointers. Senior inside man Arthur Martinet scored 14.

“We were intense. We moved the ball around and rebounded well, but we didn’t shoot as well as we would have liked. We were sloppy at times,’’ said Saguaro coach Bob LaRue.

Peoria was playing without one of its top players, Dewayne Russell, who had to sit out the game because he had been ejected from the team’s previous contest against Avondale Agua Fria.

That put more of the overall load on Lawrence Pierce. He did what he could, scoring 20 points, but didn’t have a lot of help. Jordan Davis scored 11.

“We know they’re a good team. They didn’t have their best player. We feel happy to get out of here with a win,’’ LaRue said.

This was a non-region game. LaRue said it should help his team get ready for the state tournament.

“Everyone wants to say how weak our region is, but it is better than people think,’’ LaRue said.

Four of the Desert Sky Region’s eight teams have winning records – Saguaro, Tempe McClintock, San Tan Valley Poston Butte and Cave Creek Cactus Shadows.

Peoria coach Mike Serwa is confident his team will rebound once Russell returns to the lineup.

“We think we’re capable of doing well in the tournament, but we have to worry about our next game against (Prescott Valley) Bradshaw Mountain,’’ he said. “We had a few guys playing out of position tonight.’’

Peoria was very sluggish in the first half and Saguaro was on its game – not a good combination for the Panthers. Peoria scored just 13 first-half points.

The Panthers started to open things up a little more while Saguaro cooled off a bit. But the Sabercats still did enough to maintain a comfortable advantage.