Undefeated Prescott, Page, Snowflake top 1st Notes from the North

February 3, 2021 by George Werner, AZPreps365


The Page Sand Devils girls basketball team is undefeated through three games so far and will play 6-0 Snowflake next Saturday, Feb. 13. (AzPreps365 photo)

As Northern Arizona slowly emerges from the shadow of the Coronavirus, let me extend, to all prep parents, players, coaches and other staff, a warm welcome to my first Notes from the North.  

COVID-19 has taken its toll on all of us. I write to you as one of its survivors. 

I am living proof that there is life after the virus, and I hope that this column can be a weekly reminder of that fact, with the success of Northern Arizona high school athletics serving as an inspiration for two simple words: Play on.

I am acutely aware that is not possible yet among the NEAZ conference schools, where the shutdown of Rez ball and other winter sports has undoubtedly hurt worse than the cancellation of fall sports did.

So, to the loyal communities of Whiteriver Alchesay, Chinle, Ganado, Many Farms, Monument Valley, Red Mesa, Shonto, Tuba City, Valley (Sanders) and Window Rock high schools, among so many I have not mentioned, my inbox is open, and my Facebook and Twitter accounts are active. Let me know who and where have played on through the thick of our quarantines.

My column is not just here to spotlight the drive of high schools like St. Michael, which elected to remain in the 1A Conference for boys and girls basketball this winter. While the boys are still looking for their first win in four games, the girls have gone 3-1 so far under head coach Carl Adams, all against teams from outside their North East Region.

Seniors Star Anderson and Aurianna Quintana continue the strong team leadership they have shown ever since they combined for nearly six points a game as freshmen on Adams’ 2018 state championship team. The two-time all-North Region first-teamers are supported this season by strong post play from senior tri-captain Ashley Tsingine, who helped hold Joseph City High School to a season-low 26 points in a 37-point home blowout Feb. 2.

The Cardinals’ only loss has been by two points at Williams High School, also 3-1 so far, all in Freedom games outside of the Central West Region. Mogollon, the early leader in the North East Region, was the Vikings’ lone loss, also by a bucket…

My column is also here to spotlight the efforts of athletes at larger schools, and not just in Flagstaff or Prescott, but as far west as Kingman and Bullhead City, where head coach Matt Camacho’s Mohave boys soccer team lit up Mingus Union High School, 9-1, at Anderson Auto Group Fieldhouse on Jan. 27. 

Mingus has been no slouch in its first four games under new head coach David Glick, including a recent 1-0 loss in Cottonwood to Prescott High School--4A Conference runners-up from two seasons ago and current leader of the Grand Canyon Region…

The winner of that region may have already been decided, as Prescott edged defending regional champ Flagstaff in its second 2-1 overtime game of the season Wednesday, Feb. 3. Badgers head coach Philip Reid currently masters one of the top three boys soccer records in 4A despite a sprained ankle sustained by his senior defender Jack Bruce, one of six players remaining from that 2018 victim to Salpointe Catholic High School, 2-1, in the state championship. Filling in for Bruce, in the meantime, is sophomore Tate Schneider, with junior Emmanuel Jaime coming in off Reid’s bench for more minutes on defense...  

The previously-undefeated Eagles had lost most of their players who took home all-Grand Canyon honors last season. Second-team midfielder Benett Olsen-Zwick and his goalie brother Riley, both seniors, head up the returning contingent from a state quarterfinal team last season that lost to eventual 4A runner-up Scottsdale Arcadia High School. Benett Olsen-Zwick achieved a hat trick in his season-opening matchup with Mohave, scoring three of his team’s goals in a 5-1 win Jan. 22…

A surprise 4A semifinalist last season in the Eagles’ bracket was Lake Havasu High School, which blew through the West Valley Region and the first two rounds of the state tournament for a 19-2-1 finish, even though the Knights were only a No. 7 seed.

The reward for 4A Coach of the Year Christina Gibbs, in her fifth season, was a move up--to the 5A Conference, where her boys are 3-1 so far and right behind Desert West Region leader Millennium, the Knights’ only loss on the road Jan. 26. 

Filling in ably for the graduated all-4A second-teamers Trent Dreisbach and Tristan Fowler have been junior Jesse Dominguez and sophomore Angel Castaneda. Dominguez has scored seven goals, while Castaneda is the team leader with 26 steals in wins over Agua Fria, Canyon View and Gila Ridge high schools in which the Knights outscored their opponents by a combined total of 17-1...

My area of coverage extends as far north as Page and Fredonia, where the girls basketball team won its first contest, 34-30, over their Central West Region rival, the Salome Frogs. The Fredonia boys program, despite 13 points from junior Wyatt Grover and 8 from senior Quanah Benson, fell to the Frogs and is still looking for its first regional victory.

The 3A girls hoops runner-up from last season, Page, in the meantime, has been projected as a favorite to go as far, if not further, among Northern Arizona girls basketball programs. The undefeated Sand Devils have not disappointed so far, tearing up their first two North Central Region opponents, Chino Valley and Fountain Hills, by a combined score of 125-38.

Junior Miquedah Taliman, first-team all-conference in a sophomore season in which she shot nearly 50 percent from the floor, has already improved her points-per-game average by more than a bucket, to 11. Co-captain Neve Redhair, who will be going to Stanford next season, averages three steals a game to go with her nearly six points and five assists per contest.

But it is senior center Torrance Begay, a second-team all conference performer, who has emerged as the team leader in both points and rebounds for head coach Ryan Whitehorse, hitting a double-double in the categories in the Sand Devils’ season-opening win over Winslow…

Begay will probably need an effort superior to that 16-point, 10-rebound night, though, if Page is to take down the team with the best record in 3A, Snowflake High School, in a home Freedom game Saturday, Feb. 13.

Factoring in both region and overall records, both of Snowflake's basketball teams are currently enjoying the rare lofty perch atop 3A with the best marks in the conference.

The Lobo girls have rolled to a 6-0 mark under incumbent East Region Coach of the Year Joe Clare, riding the reins of senior point guard Trysten Hancock, who averages nearly 11 points plus four steals per game. Hancock led the Lobos to their closest victory, 50-39 over Holbrook, with 10 points along with fellow honorable mention all-conference player from last season, junior Kamri Ballard.   

Hancock and Ballard supplanted a rare off night from the free-throw line from junior forward Emily Davis, who only converted one of her eight trips to the charity stripe but managed to grab 11 rebounds. The team leader with more than 12 points and 8 rebounds per game, Davis gets plenty of wing support in the Lobos’ other wins from fellow juniors Macee LeSueur and Austin Stratton, who have combined for over 18 points per game in their five other victories, won by an average margin of more than 32(!) points…

Next week, Chino Valley and Mingus wrestling face their toughest duals of the season against defending state champion Yuma and Bradshaw Mountain, respectively. If you have other stories or tips on Northern Arizona prep players or coaches you feel deserve the spotlight, follow me on Facebook and Twitter at @ProfGWerner, or email me at gwerner@azpreps365.com.