Baboquivari sophomore Anton Jose goes up against the St. David team. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Monday, Jan 15: McKale Center
Immaculate Heart 54, Santa Rita 21 (GIRLS)
Baboquivari 68, St. David 43 (BOYS)
Rio Rico 69, Amphitheater 12 (GIRLS)
Nogales 68, Rio Rico 45 (BOYS)
Pueblo 45, Sahuaro 43 (GIRLS)
Sabino 55, Ironwood Ridge 48 (BOYS)
Mountain View Marana 49, Sahuaro 47 (BOYS)

12 hours, seven games and two buzzer-beaters. It was a long and fun day of basketball at the MLK Basketball Classic held in McKale Center on the University of Arizona campus on Monday.

The day started out with the girls of Immaculate Heart beating Santa Rita 54-21 in a game that featured the most valuable starting five in all of Arizona in terms of production and court time. Sarah Martin, Catie Haynes, Therese Martin, Emily Haynes and Grace Aroz spent the summer playing together with no substitutes and no breaks and the chemistry earned has paid off.

The Knights are 12-0 in power-ranking games which means a No. 4 ranking in the 1A Conference and a share of the 1A South region lead with No. 3 Baboquivari (9-0). Immaculate Heart will host Baboquivari on Jan. 30 for what might be the region title but, regardless, the top two teams from the region will earn an automatic state playoff berth.

Sarah Martin led all scorers with 19 points, Catie Haynes added 11, Emily Haynes put in 10 and Aroz scored eight. Daisha Fox scored 16 for Santa Rita.

The Eagles fell to 2-7 in the 2A Conference.

Immaculate Heart (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The boys of Baboquivari beat St. David 68-43 in the second game. The Warriors (7-4) moved to No. 10 in the 1A rankings while St. David (3-6) moved to No. 21.

It was an important victory for the Warriors with only six at-large playoff bids available in the 1A race. No. 1 The Gregory School (8-1) and No. 4 Patagonia (7-1) control the 1A South region.

Shaqume Pablo scored 15 to lead the Warriors, Lucas Jones had 14, Mykka Juan added 12 and Anton Jose scored 10. St. David center James Mayberry scored 17 to lead all scorers. Adam Dabovich had nine and Robby McGrath had seven.

The girls of Rio Rico beat Amphitheater 69-12 in the third game. Rio Rico is ranked No. 12 in the 3A Conference, a far cry from No. 49 only two years ago. 

April Martinez scored 19 for the Hawks, Lizbeth Cruz added 17 and Mia Rodriguez scored 15. Alyah Blackman scored four to lead the Panthers.

The 4A Conference has a play-in tournament for teams ranked No. 9-24. No. 2 Pueblo (10-0) is the favorite coming out of the 4A Gila region so the Hawks are aiming for a top-24 position.

Nogales High School travels well and brought several buses. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The Nogales boys beat Rio Rico 68-45 in the next game with Apache standout Sammy Legleu going off for 31 points. Legleu has 982 career points heading into the match at Catalina Foothills Tuesday night.

Nogales (6-2) is ranked No. 8 in the 4A Conference and Catalina Foothills (10-0) is No. 2.  Rio Rico (4-6) is ranked No. 23. Nogales and Catalina Foothills are battling it out in the 4A Kino region while Rio Rico is in the mix in the 4A Gila region.

Legleu had his 31 points and Luis Martinez added 12 for Nogales. Sergio Monreal scored 15 for Rio Rico.

The Amphitheater girls taking in early action. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

The girls of Pueblo beat Sahuaro 45-43 on a put back from Jasmine Belt with two seconds left in regulation. It was a back-and-forth contest and evens out the season standings between the two teams at one win and one loss each. There will be no “rubber match” because Sahuaro is in the 5A Conference and Pueblo is in the 4A Conference.

Sahuaro (8-2) is ranked No. 4 in 5A and, as mentioned before, Pueblo is No. 2 in 4A play so the game brought plenty of power points into the ranking equation for both teams.

The Cougars are currently on top of the 5A Southern region and Pueblo is on top of the 4A Gila region so both squads are looking for a high seed in their respective state playoffs.

Summer Fox scored 18 to lead Pueblo, Ilyssa Galindo scored 16 and Belt added nine for the Warriors while Alyssa Brown scored 19 for Sahuaro and Lourdes Heslep scored 11.

Brown’s grandfather, Gene Moore, played for the University of Arizona and this was her first trip to McKale Center. Moore played in the old Bear Down Gym on campus.

With time running down, Belt collected a rebound off of an outside shot and put it back up without hesitation. She was fouled on the shot but missed the free throw.

#PuebloGirlsBasketball shares some thoughts after tonight’s exciting 45-43 win over #Sahuaro at the #MLKBasketballClassic. #InstantClassic

Full Clip: https://t.co/1QD1DqMZYl pic.twitter.com/FYHQvdup0s

— Pueblo HS Athletics (@PuebloAthletics) January 16, 2018

The Sabino boys beat Ironwood Ridge 55-48. The Sabercats are 7-3 in the 3A Conference and improved to a No. 4 ranking in the process.

Daniel Joseph led the way with 18 points and Jason Johnson added 11 while Jack McKearney scored 18 for Ironwood Ridge.

Blake Rustand is a junior guard for Sabino. Like Brown of Sahuaro, Rustand’s grandfather also played for the Wildcats. Warren Rustand was an All-American, national team member and also briefly served as an assistant coach at Arizona.

The Sabercats are on top of the 3A South region and Ironwood Ridge (2-9) is struggling in the 5A Southern region.

Jason Johnson (20) & Kolby Lathrop battle for openign tip. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)

 

Mountain View Marana gave us the second buzzer-beater of the night thanks to a put back from Elijah Elmer to defeat Sahuaro 49-47. With the score tied, Drew Cotton drove the length of the court and put up a shot and Elmer was there for the rebound and finish. According to teammates, Elmer told everyone to clear out the lane on the shot to make room for him.

Elijah Elmer with the put back as @ViewHoops beats @SahuaroBB 49-47 pic.twitter.com/VpMYlzZveh

— Andy Morales (@AndyMorales8) January 16, 2018

The loss dropped Sahuaro (11-1) from No. 1 in the 5A Conference to No. 5 while Mountain View (6-5) moved up to No. 14.  No. 3 Buena (9-2) and No. 4 Cienega (8-2) help make the 5A Southern region one of the most difficult in the state.

Julian Molina led Mountain View with 20 points, Elmer had 11 and Cotton had eight. Kevin Poe and Dylan Newell led Sahuaro with 12 and Dashawn Engram added 10.