Matthew Andujo
ASU Student Journalist

Mountain Pointe looking ahead to next season

March 27, 2018 by Matthew Andujo, Arizona State University


Khalid Price has already put the loss behind him. Now the 5-9 point guard looks ahead.

“Me and coach [Duane Eason] have developed a really good relationship, he trusts me and I trust him,” said Price.

That wasn’t always so during a 26-4 run for Mountain Pointe on its way to the championship game, where the Pride lost to Pinnacle.

Price clashed with the first-year coach in the beginning.

 “We had a rough start, I didn’t know what I was doing and he came in here and I didn’t have the respect for him,” said Price. “Over months he instilled that it’s going to be his way or no way and that lead me to have respect for him.

Price, who was named 6A All-Conference Second Team and Mountain Pointe’s Player of The Year, knows that his team will have a target on its back next season.

“Everybody is gunning for us, everybody thinks that they figured it out and they know the way to beat us,” said Price.

Another key factor for Mountain Pointe will be Jalen Graham, who like Price, will be a senior looking to leave his mark on the school.

“We want to show that it’s just not football, we’re here [basketball], we’re ready to win. We don’t care about anybody, we don’t care about rankings and we know we have the tools to win,” said Graham.

Graham had a breakout season for Pride averaging 11.0 points, 9.1 rebounds and 3.4 blocks.

Under Eason, Mountain Pointe executes a full-court press the whole game, which they plan to bring into next season.

“We press the whole game, that’s what we do. Our thing is that we don’t have a knockout player, we don’t have a guy we can just throw the ball and he score 20-25,” said Eason. “We pick up the tempo, disrupt, try to make it tough for teams.”