Peoria advances in Greenway tourney, as Ironwood, Valley Vista comebacks fall short
Posted 12/29/17
Richard Smith
West Valley Preps
All three local coaches in the Judy Dixon Boys Basketball Tournament second round came away with things they hope their team improves in the second half of the …
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Peoria advances in Greenway tourney, as Ironwood, Valley Vista comebacks fall short
Posted
Richard SmithWest Valley Preps
All three local coaches in the Judy Dixon Boys Basketball Tournament second round came away with things they hope their team improves in the second half of the season, even though only one team won to advance to Friday's semifinal.
Peoria held off a late Ironwood charge to win 70-60. In the nightcap, Valley Vista roused itself late to erase an 11-point fourth quarter deficit and force Ironwood Ridge to overtime. But the Nighthawks regrouped and won 65-60.
Peoria and Ironwood Ridge meet in one semifinal Friday night, while Goodyear Estrella Foothills and Apollo play in the other at Greenway High School. Here's brief recaps from Thursday:
Ironwood's Dominic Gonzalez (#2) makes a shot against Peoria on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 at Greenway High School in Phoenix. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]
Peoria 70, Ironwood 60
This matchup of district rivals who rarely play did not kick into gear until the second half. Peoria (9-6) led 19-16 at the break.
Then the Panthers broke loose, as seniors Knot Anyieth and Lahad Adehim attacked the rim, sophomore Isaac Monroe drained a pair of three-point shots. Peoria led 43-29 after three.
"They've grown up and spent a lot of time together doing community service and team activities. They really worked hard in the offseason," Peoria coach William Roberts said. "They're still young. Isaac is a sophomore, Kaleb (Brown) is a junior. Knot has grown into a young man and is way more responsible and Lahad has done a good job of leading. (Junior post) John Price is scary. This is his first varsity year and to see the way he's playing is really cool
The Eagles' best big man, senior Ajang Aguek, hit two free throws to start the fourth but fouled out with more than 7 minutes remaining.
Ironwood (9-7) nearly came back anyway, cutting their deficit to 46-37 before Peoria junior Kaleb Brown scored seven straight points to seemingly put the game away. Brown scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter.
"We're focused on getting better every day and I'm not too sure we did that today," Ironwood coach Jordan Augustine said. "We've got to be more aggressive. We have to have someone take on the leadership role. That's on me as a coach. I've got to figure out how to get guys to be aggressive. You'd think, watching the game, that I was just telling them to pass the ball side to side and hold on to it."
The Ironwood coach also was frustrated with inconsistencies in how fouls were called. He picked up a technical with just under two minutes left.
After the game, Augustine said the referees did not cost his team a game that Peoria deserved to win anyway. But he is not sure how he was supposed to approach the officials differently.
"I got a technical for asking the question why. I tried to talk with the official and we've been told not to berate refs. I tried to ask him if I could talk to him about a call that he ended up admitting that he got wrong and he refused to talk to me," Augustine said.
Yet, after Brown sank one technical free throw to build the lead to 62-48, Ironwood cranked up an already effective press and nearly came all the way back.
After steals, junior forward Malik Smith and freshman guard JJ White hit consecutive treys. Sophomore Dominic Gonzalez, the Eagles' leading scorer with 15 points, also got into the act with a triple.
White hit another with 17 seconds left, and suddenly it was 66-60. But brown drained two more free throws and Anyieth scored his team-high 15th point to finish.
"We do (play teams that press in our region). I think it'll be a good film session, seeing ourselves in certain moments where we just get nervous. They shouldn't be afraid of a mistake," Roberts said. "We've lost games and it's OK. It just looks like that moment makes us fidgety. We're trying to work on that."
Valley Vista's Sidney-Michael Thomas (#3) makes a shot against Ironwood Ridge on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 at Greenway High School in Phoenix. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]
Oro Valley Ironwood Ridge 65, Valley Vista 60 (OT)
Valley Vista seemed to sleepwalk through the first three quarters of Thursday's quarterfinal while the 4-10 team from northern Tucson played with precision and purpose.
Senior forward Jared McKearney led all scorers with 11 in the first half and the Nighthawks were up 29-21 at the break.
A brief 6-0 Valley Vista third quarter run was snuffed out by sophomore guard Benny Felix's two straight treys. Monsoon senior guard Mark Thurman hit his own triple to cut the deficit to 39-30 after three.
"Good teams don't just get crowned when they walk on the court. They have to prove it every night. We did not do that tonight. It is very difficult to explain tonight's performance," Valley Vista coach Adrian Orona said. "I told our players, 'You're not affected by losses and until you are, you're not going to work toward success.'"
The deficit remained nine until the five-minute mark when junior guard Josiah Jackson hit a pair of free throws and a basket. Fellow junior guard and captain Sidney-Michael Thomas took over with two steals and two layups and it was 43-42.
Ironwood Ridge responded and led 49-45 entering the final minute, but Jackson drilled a trey at the 55 second mark. McKearney made the front end of the one-and-one but Valley Vista (5-9) grabbed the board and had a chance for the final shot.
Thomas penetrated and drilled a pull-up jumper from the elbow to tie with 7.7 seconds left. However, he picked up his fifth foul two seconds later, after a performance with more impact than his eight points would suggest.
"Sidney does so many things for this team. He can play above the rim because of his elevation. Losing him on a questionable call like that - you saw me talking to the ref and jokingly asking him if he was going to let the game be decided like that," Orona said. "Sidney has put in the work to become a leader. It's strange starting the year with two junior captains but Josiah and Sidney absolutely did everything in their power to be those guys."
Ironwood Ridge missed the free throws and overtime was on its way. After junior Josh Holloway scored on a putback, the Nighthawks answered with six straight points.
Thurman closed the gap with another three and senior center Victor Wanjohi gave the Monsoon a brief one-point lead. Felix, however, hit another three and McKearney capped his 21-point night by making the last two free throws.
While this tournament performance does not "count," it mirrored the rest of Valley Vista's inconsistent first half of the season. The Monsoon played 6A stalwarts Phoenix Desert Vista and Laveen Cesar Chavez close and took apart an undermanned 5A contender in Liberty but were listless in other 30-plus point losses.
"We have some issues with maturity in terms of basketball IQ. The numbers are just strange. We were up on Tucson by 30 last night and ended up winning by 24, and Tucson beat Ironwood Ridge by 30 a couple weeks ago," Orona said. "They came out very well and we, honestly, did not come out with intensity we usually do. We were up on Desert Vista with 5 minutes to go and we have that in us. So it is thoroughly frustrating to have a performance like tonight where we decide to wake up with four minutes to go."
Ironwood's Dominic Gonzalez (#2) makes a shot against Peoria on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 at Greenway High School in Phoenix. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]
Valley Vista's Sidney-Michael Thomas (#3) makes a shot against Ironwood Ridge on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2017 at Greenway High School in Phoenix. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]
