Boys hoops: Corona del Sol delivers knockout of Dobson

February 8, 2016 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Corona del Sol hasn't been able to administer a fatal blow to opponents very often this season and it looked like Monday night would be another of those games.

A 13-0 run late in the third period changed that as Corona dealt Dobson a 90-72 defeat as the Division I boys hoops regular season winds to a close.

Corona del Sol (13-8 overall, 12-5 power-ranking games) won for the seventh time in its last eight games as it tries to maintain the top spot in the D-I power rankings. Corona has one game left -- a big one. The Aztecs host Gilbert High in the regular-season finale for both on Wednesday (Feb. 10) with the D-I Section 1 championship on the line. Dobson is now 17-8, 11-6 prg.

Junior guards Alex Barcello and Saben Lee combined for 61 points and were key in the game-breaking run the final  2:27 of the third quarter. Corona was clinging to a 57-52 lead at the time. A foul on Dobson's Dante Hicks and technical on Hicks seconds later fouled him out of the game. Barcello made one of the two technical free throws and he and Lee teamed up for 10 of the next 12 points. Barcello did his damage from the perimeter while Lee was completing layups and dunks -- a couple off feeds from Barcello. Corona headed to the final period with a 70-52 lead.

Barcello finished with 35 points and Lee had 26. Barcello connected on 4 of 7 threes among his total and was 9-for-16 oerall. Lee's longest bucket was from about 8 feet. He was 11-of-17 from the field. Tyrell Henderson chiipped in 12 points and Nate Marshall, working his way back from a broken nose, finished with seven. All Marshall's points were in the first half and helped Corona forge a 42-37 lead at intermission.

Dobson managed to stay close thanks to some good shooting (61 percent) and balanced scoring in the opening half. Kendrick Williams, Amaury Matthews, James Clark and Da'Shawn Ray tallied between 10 and seven points each with all but Clark canning a three. The Mustangs accuracy form the field fell to under 50 percent in the third period, but combined with Corona's late burst made the final period a moot point.

Williams led Dobson 23 points while Clark and Ray finished with 16 each. Matthews chipped in with 12 -- just two in the second half. Dobson entered the night No. 12 in the power rankings and closes its regular season at Perry on Thursday.