BOYS HOOPS: Sabino beat Monument Valley; 6 teams from Southern Arizona advance

February 15, 2017 by Andy Morales, AZPreps365


Sabino head coach Mary Roth watches as Travis Walker (24) tipsoff against Royce Charley.
(Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

No. Buena beat No. 12 Mountain View Marana 61-50 at home in the first round of the 5A state playoffs. The Colts (24-5) will travel to play No. 4 Chaparral (21-6) on Saturday in the quarterfinal round.

It was the third match of the year between Buena and Mountain View and the Colts came away with two wins in the series. The Mountain Lions were the Southern Region champions. Chaparral beat No. 13 Betty Fairfax 82-65 to set up the quarterfinal game with Buena.

No. 6 Cienega got past No. 11 Paradise Valley 70-53 in the 5A game held in Vail. The Bobcats (19-9) will travel to No. 3 Sunnyslope (23-4) on Saturday. Sunnyslope was the Division I runner-up last year.

No. 10 Sahuaro took care of No. 7 Cholla in the last 5A game involving teams from Southern Arizona. The Cougars were the fourth team out of the Southern Region while Cholla won the Sonoran Region.

The Cougars (20-7) will host No. 15 Liberty (20-7). The Lions upset No. 2 Arcadia 93-89 to set up the home game for Sahuaro.

Moving to 4A, No. 2 Salpointe beat No. 15 Saguaro 61-55 to advance to the quarterfinal round to be played on Saturday. The Lancers (19-9) will host No. 7 Tempe (16-9).

No. 3 Catalina Foothills beat No. 14 Higley 65-49 and the Falcons (21-5) will host No. 11 Marcos de Niza (17-10) in the quarterfinal round. The Padres upset No. 6 Rio Rico 80-78 in double overtime.

No. 13 Sabino was the only 3A team from Southern Arizona to advance to the second round. The Sabercats (16-11) beat No. 20 Monument Valley 57-41 to set up a game against No.4 American Leadership (17-5) in a game to be played at Poston Butte High School.

No. 21 Empire lost to No. 12 Page 58-50. The Ravens finished 21-10 on the year. No. 22 Tanque Verde lost to No. 11 Florence 59-54 in the last 3A game featuring teams from Southern Arizona. The Hawks finished 14-12 on the year.

Sabino led Monument Valley 13-6 after one and 25-14 at the half.  The Sabercats hit on five 3-pointers in the first half alone but the Mustangs remained in striking distance and cut the lead down to 35-30 with 6:10 left in the game.

6-foot-5 senior Travis Walker led Sabino with 15 points with all of them coming in the second half and 11 in the deciding fourth quarter, sparking Sabino to a 14-4 run to end the game.

Deontae Beckwith added 13 points for Sabino while Cauy Nelson scored a game-high 17 for Monument Valley. The Mustangs finished 8-15 on the year.

 

 

Sabino 57, Monument Valley

 

MV: 6-8-11-16: 41

SAB: 13-12-10-22: 57

MV: C. Nelson 17 (4-6); T. Russel 9 (4-7); M. Hurley 5 (1-2); K. Holiday 4; J. Hale 4; R. Charley 2. 3-PointersC. Nelson; T. Russell. 41 (9-15).

SAB: T. Walker 15 (5-8); D. Beckwith 13 (4-4); D. Thompson 6; A. Aros-Estrella 6 (1-2); D. Joseph 5 (1-4); B. Rustand 5; L. Hasler 3; J. Johnson 2; S. Markowski 0 (0-2). 3-Pointers: D. Thompson 2; L. Hasler; A. Aros-Estrella; B. Rustand; D. Beckwith. 57 (11-21).