#11 Mtn. Pointe's second-quarter burst conquers #7 Chandler

February 27, 2020 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Mountain Pointe coach Kaimarr Price huddles with his starters prior to tipoff vs. Chandler on Thursday night. The Pride beat Chandler, 70-52, to reach next week's 6A title game vs. Desert Vista. (AzPreps365 photo)

It's been 12 years since a double-digit seed in the big-school conference reached the championship game. St. Mary's managed the feat as a No. 10 in 2008 and ultimately lost in the final.

No. 11 Mountain Pointe topped that by one spot by executing its game plan from the second quarter on and routed No. 7 Chandler, 70-52, before an overflow crowd at Chandler High's House of Payne.

"Our plan was to pressure them and make it a fast-paced game," first year Mountain Pointe coach Kaimarr Price , a Pride alum, said. "The first quarter was pretty stagnant. We, speeded up the game and got into transition That's what we were after."

Mountain Pointe (16-11) will face Ahwatukee rival and neighbor Desert Vista, the school that beat St. Mary's in the final in 2008, on Tuesday March 3 at ASU's Desert Financial Arena for the 6A title. Game time is set for 8 p.m.  Chandler (19-9) finished strong as the last of five Premier Region teams to survive in the tournament. The Wolves played in their first boys semifinal since the 1990-91 season.

With a 9-8 lead after the first quarter, Mountain Pointe guards Jason Kimbrough and electric sub TJ Tigler ignited Mountain Pointe with their play and a huge run. Leading 11-10 with 5:38 to go before halftime, the Pride kicked into high gear outscoring Chandler 17-2 over a four-minute stretch.

Tigler scored a team-leading eight points in the first half, all in the run that put Chandler in a hole. Kimbrough, who didn't attempt a shot in the first quarter, sank two threes during the run. The 28-12 advantage that ensued was the Pride's largest and they took a 28-15 edge to halftime.

Tigler led all scorers with 23 points, Kimbrough added 15 points and Miles Sulka chipped in with 14. 

Chandler showed some spunk most of the third period and managed to cut the lead to 38-32 with 1:40 left in the period. Junior 6-foot-7 post Nick Riley pounded the boards and posted up often to lead the surge. Riley poured in 13 of his team-high 21 points in the quarter.

Mountain Pointe was able to bump the lead back up to 45-34 by the end of the third quarter with a pair of buckets by Rashion Hodge key, including a lay-in to close the quater. The Pride put the finishing touches on the Wolves with a 10-1 burst over the first four minutes of the final quarter increasing the lead to 20.

"It was nice night for our seniors (Tigler, Sulka and Hodge)," Price said. "Hodge is a football player and brings that mentality."

Chandler junior point guard Carson Kelly, who torched Mountain Pointe with 31 points in a Wolves' win when the teams played in December, finished with a hard-earned 12 points. Kelly scored half of those in the final 3 1/2 minutes.

Junior forward Isaiah Broady also had a tough night scoring, He attempted a boatload of threes and didn't connect on one until the final three minutes. He made three threes before the final buzzer for all of his nine points.

"Kelly is a great competitor," Price said. "He had a few shots that normally go in for him that didn't tonight. I liked the way we defended."