5a boys basketball semis preview

February 26, 2020 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


South Mountain's Damarion Pouncil (left) dunks during a game this season. Sunnyslope and Ironwood (right) will meet for the 4th time this season.

Semifinal schedule and broadcast details. 

No. 4 South Mountain (23-5) vs. No. 1 Millennium (23-5): This will be a rematch of a one point regular season victory by Millennium. In that game, Jalan Early (18 points) made 4 of 5 three points and DaRon Holmes (16 points) and Justus Jackson (15 points) did their part. For South Mountain, Isaiah “Zay” Freeney scored 21 and DeOtis Nunn Jr. (18 points) and Lareon Ginnis (14 points) also had good games. South Mountain’s leaders are Freeney, a junior guard, and senior guard Kyree Ware. Freeney has already scored more than 1,000 career points and is averaging 15.6 ppg this season. He is one of five players on the team who are averaging five or more points every game. 6-7 South Mountain sophomore Damarion Pouncil leads the team with 2.7 blocks and 5.8 rebounds per game. South Mountain has won its past 12 games. Sophomore Lareon Ginnis leads 5A with 7.1 assists per game. The Phoenix program is home to one of the state’s greatest basketball traditions. It’s won six championship rings since 1956, with the last one coming in 2006, the last time South Mountain won 20 games. This is the first time it has reached the Final Four since 2008. Coach Jeremy Soria is in his 10th season and he and his staff have rebuild the program. “My coaching staff has been tremendous in the progress we have had,” Soria said. “My assistants Derahn Stinson and Erik Hood are very diligent in everything that they do. They both are very fiery coaches, who are very organized and great with everything they do. They are two different coaches, but each of them have played a huge role in the transformation of South basketball on every level. Both will make great head coaches at any Level.” The last time South was in the playoffs prior to last year and this season was 2014. “The accomplishment I am most proud of is not having kids ineligible on varsity since I took over and graduating all of them, including the seniors who are on track to graduate this year. We preach classroom first and that has translated over to the basketball court. The correlation between doing what is right in the classroom and what is right on the court go hand in hand.

“I am also proud of the the way the kids have persevered through adversity coming off one of the best seasons we have had since 2008, to now having a target on their backs and still performing at a high level. We are in position to hit all of our goals we set forth for our team this season. Better our record from last season. Win the region. Sweep the region. Advance further in the playoffs than we did last year. Everything else is a bonus.” … Millennium is on a 13-game win streak. It's is the state’s highest scoring team (80 ppg) at the big school level. Holmes (10.5 rebounds per game, 3.7 blocks per game, 19 double-doubles), Justus Jackson (14.4 ppg, 5 assists per game) and Robby DeVries (9.4 points per game, 4.7 rpg, 4.5 apg) are the captains. The team is shooting 54 percent. “I am proud of how our boys competed not only in Arizona but across the nation,” third-year coach Ty Amundsen said. “We played the top teams in the country this year and went 5-5 vs. that talent.” Maxprep’s nationally ranked teams No. 2 Calif. Sierra Canyon and No. 9 New York Long Island Lutheran are two of the teams Millennium played this season. “I know DaRon, Justus and Robby get the accolades and rightfully so, but our nine seniors are a huge part of our success,” Amundsen said. “Our coaching staff works hard for these boys, and we push our boys. People say we are non-stop, and that’s the truth. Strength and conditioning program. Individual trainings. Practices. They are top-notch and proud to have a staff around me.”

No. 2 Ironwood (26-2) vs. No. 6 Sunnyslope (23-5): Ironwood’s leaders are senior point/shooting guard Dominic Gonzalez, junior point/shooting guard J.J. White, senior point guard Trent Hudgens, senior point forward David Teibo, and junior point guard Bailon Black. “Dom is our connector,” coach Jordan Augustine said. “He has been on the varsity team for four years and has been a team captain for two of them. The players respect his voice, and he is constantly aiding the team in being intentional about growth daily. He is our all-time leader in wins, points, assists, and threes made. J.J. is one of the hardest workers in the program. His voice and competitive mentality is valued by the players and coaches in our program. He has been voted as team captain twice. He is a tremendous on ball defender who shoots the basketball at a high level. Trent has adapted well to our program and has brought a lot of leadership. He plays hard every possession and loves basketball. His teammates appreciate his toughness, grit, and bulldog mentality. David is a vocal leader who matches it with his actions. He is consistently one of the hardest workers in our program and demands that his teammates compete at a high level. He is conscientious and cares deeply about his teammates. Bailon was voted as a team captain this year and leads the team in assists. His role has changed multiple times this year and he constantly adapts to whatever the team needs. He wants to be the best version of himself daily.” Ironwood has won its past 16 games and made the second most threes in the state, averaging 10 treys per game. The team became the 5A state record holder in three pointers (279 so far) made in a season. It also set a new the single game 5A state record with 17 threes in a game this season. “I am extremely proud of how selfless they are," coach said. "They play for each other and want to do what is best for the team.” The is the fist time that the program has reached the postseason in four consecutive years. The five seniors have won more games than any other senior class in Ironwood’s history. … This is the seventh time Sunnyslope has won at least 20 games or more since 2012. The team’s leaders are two seniors, 6-4 guard Paul Hayden and 6-6 guard Xzavier Lino. “They do a great job of leading by example and providing experience to those younger guys on the team,” coach Ray Portela said. 6-10 junior Carson Basham is averaging 14.5 ppg and 9 boards per game. Junior Grady Lewis is the team’s second leading scorer at 10.6 per game. “I am happy about our growth as a team. We have a lot of young players at key positions, and I'm proud of how they are getting better, learning how to compete, and correcting the errors that they made at the beginning of the season.” Seven players on the team are averaging five points or more per game. Sophomore guard Oakland Fort scored 19 points, including the the winning bucket, in the team’s quarterfinal victory. The team is shooting 49 percent, and is averaging 4.0 blocks per game. Sunnyslope won State titles in 2018, 2017, 2009, and 2002 and were the runner-up in 2016, 2010 and 2001. This will be the fourth time that Northwest Region rivals Ironwood and Sunnyslope have met this season. Ironwood won the last two games. Both games were close affairs, and Ironwood won the last game in overtime.