NORTH
VALLEY – The Sandra Day O'Connor boys basketball team is for
real. Just ask the Mountain Ridge Mountain Lions.
If
there was any doubt that the Eagles were turning themselves
into the favorites to win the Northwest Region this year, they
sent another message with a 79‑70 road win at Mountain
Ridge Jan. 12.
Ethan
Esch scored 31 points as O'Connor improved to 4‑0 in the
region with the victory and stayed tied with Trevor Browne as
the only undefeated region teams through four games.
The
Eagles (15‑2 overall) and Trevor Browne (13‑2) will
face off Jan. 19 in South Phoenix after both teams played region
games Jan. 16, which was past press time. O'Connor was scheduled
to host North Canyon first.
O'Connor
kept itself undefeated and among the state's top teams in playoff
power points when it beat Mountain Ridge behind double‑digit
scoring by four players.
The
victory over Mountain Ridge was one of two for the Eagles last
week. O'Connor also topped rival Boulder Creek 81‑74 Jan.
9 in the teams' first meeting of the season.
Thanks
to a 29‑point third quarter, the Jaguars held a one‑point
lead going into the fourth, but O'Connor only allowed five points
total in the fourth quarter to pull out the victory.
B.C.
gets by Kingman for
first region win
ANTHEM
– Boulder Creek (5‑9, 1‑3) followed up the loss
to O'Connor with its first region win of the year three nights
later. The Jaguars nipped Kingman at 61‑59.
They'll
try to put together a region winning streak this week with games
against Deer Valley (Jan. 16) and Goldwater (Jan. 19) on the
schedule.
Goldwater
trying to
end losing streak
NORTH
VALLEY – Losses to North Canyon and Deer Valley last week dropped
Goldwater to 0‑4 in the Northwest Region. The Bulldogs
(3‑13 overall) only lost by a combined eight points, however,
as North Canyon (62‑58) and Deer Valley (49‑45)
handed them four‑point losses.
Ross
Williams led all scorers with 23 points in the loss to North
Canyon. A 22‑11 run by North Canyon in the second quarter
proved to be insurmountable.
Goldwater
will try to get that elusive first region win this week at home
against Kingman (Jan. 16) and at Boulder Creek (Jan. 19).
Notre
Dame gets best of
Cactus Shadows
CAVE
CREEK – The Wells Fargo 2 Region boys basketball race might
end up a two‑team affair, but through the first few weeks
of league play, only Notre Dame has escaped unbeaten.
Notre
Dame and Cactus Shadows battled to even scores in the first
and fourth quarters Jan. 9 at Cactus Shadows, but Notre Dame
outscored the Falcons 31‑23 over the second and
third quarters to provide the difference in a 62‑54 win
for Notre Dame.
Like
last season when the teams battled back and forth all year,
Notre Dame (16‑5 overall, 4‑0 region) and Cactus
Shadows (7‑11, 2‑1) staged another close game in
the first meeting of the 2006‑07 season.
Cactus
Shadows was able to put the loss in the big game behind it immediately
by routing Bradshaw Mountain on the road three nights later.
Despite the long trip to Prescott Valley, Phillip Aholt scored
21 points and the Kyles–Foley and Watkins–combined to score
25 to lead the Falcons to a 75‑59 win.
The
Falcons have a packed week upcoming with a region game at Washington
Jan. 16 (results unavailable at press time), a non‑region
home game against Cactus Jan. 17, and a return to region action
Jan. 19 at Sunnyslope.
Reach
the reporter at jason@thedesertadvocate.com.
