https://twitter.com/AZPreps365Andy/status/1368041207683637250

The 2A Conference Play-In Tournament played pretty even Friday night with only two upsets on the boy's side. No. 20 River Valley took out No. 13 Morenci 62-56 in the major upset and No. 18 Horizon Honors beat No. 15 St. Augustine 70-67 in the somewhat minor upset. The eight winners from the tournament will advance to the 2A state tournament slated to begin on Wednesday, March 10 with games to be played at the home of the higher seeds starting at 7 p.m.

The Eagles hit on 15 three-pointers to defeat St. Augustine with senior Ben Brady scoring all 18 of his team-high 18 points from beyond the arc. Brady came into the game with nine 3’s made all season and the team had 18 total before traveling to Tucson. Still, The Wolves were within striking distance all night and held a 59-56 lead with 5:02 left in the game on a 3 of their own from Sr. Andres Maldonado.

The Eagles hit back-to-back 3s to take a 62-59 lead with 3:55 left but Sr. Thomas Reyna scored and Jr. Alex Games put a bucket in and St. Augustine went back up 63-62 with 3:03 left. That lead was erased by a 3 from Jr. Quinn Cook but the Wolves battled back thanks to four more points from Reyna and St. Augustine led 67-66 with 1:18 left.

A couple of costly turnovers and several missed free throws kept the Eagles in the game in the final minute of play and Sr. Caden Bauer hit the teams’ final 3 with 19.3 left to put Horizon Honors up 69-67. Jr. Michael Keelen hit a free throw with 3.9 seconds left for the final 70-67 margin.

The game brought the end of Reyna’s career with the Wolves. He finished the night with a game-high 22 points and his career, just shy of 1,800 points. Maldonado scored 14 points and Sr. Luis Trevizo and Sr. Stephen Norzagaray had 12 each. Brady finished with his 18, Fr. Kaden Garber had 15, Fr. Alex Rivers added 10 and Keelen had 9.

The AIA Bracket Show will be streamed live Saturday morning at 8 a.m.