Falcons seeded 4^th at state tournament
Cactus Shadows girls come close in Wells Fargo 2 Region title game
by Jason Stone

CAVE CREEK – Talk about familiarity. Cactus Shadows’ girls basketball team might be seeing some recognizable faces at this year’s 4A‑Division II state tournament.

The Falcons wrapped up the No. 4 seed at this week’s tournament after taking second in the Wells Fargo 2 Region tournament championship game last week. That put the team in the half of the bracket with region foes Washington, Bradshaw Mountain and their first‑round opponent, Sunnyslope.

Cactus Shadows (20‑10) was scheduled to play Sunnyslope at home in a first‑round game Feb. 13, but results were unavailable at press time. The Falcons and Vikings were meeting for the third time this season. Cactus Shadows won the first two games–51‑35 on Dec. 19 and 56‑43 on Jan. 19.

The winner of the game advanced to the second round, where it could face Bradshaw Mountain, the No. 12 seed, who played fifth‑seeded Tempe in the first round.

Additionally, No. 1‑ranked Washington, the defending champion, could be awaiting Cactus Shadows if the Falcons make it to the quarterfinals Feb. 20.

The Falcons and Rams have already played three times, most recently last week in the Wells Fargo 2 tournament. After the Rams beat Cactus Shadows by a combined 63 points in the regular season meetings, Cactus Shadows kept it close in the tournament Feb. 9 and lost only 54‑50.

Cactus Shadows is trying to advance to the 4A‑II Final Four for the second straight year. The Falcons played at Glendale Arena (now Jobing.com Arena) in the semifinals in 2006, losing to eventual runner‑up Sinagua.

This year’s semifinals and finals are again played in the Glendale arena of the Phoenix Coyotes. If Cactus Shadows reaches the semifinals Feb. 20, tip‑off time of its game is 5:30 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 3 p.m. Feb. 23.

O’Connor sweeps week to earn No. 3 regional seed

NORTH VALLEY – Sandra Day O’Connor needed wins last week over North Canyon and Trevor Browne to wrap up the No. 3 seed at regionals, and the Eagles did just that.

O’Connor (13‑12 overall, 8‑6 Northwest Region) earned the third seed and hosted Kingman in a first‑round game Feb. 12. Results were unavailable at press time.

The Eagles finished third in the regular season race thanks to a 47‑43 home win against North Canyon Feb. 6, followed by a 57‑48 victory at Trevor Browne Feb. 9.

Hillary Bratlien scored a game‑high 24 points against North Canyon as the Eagles won despite scoring only four points in the third quarter. O’Connor’s 17‑8 run in the first quarter proved to be all the cushion it would need.

Bratlien followed that performance with 28 points against Trevor Browne in the regular season finale. Just as against North Canyon, O’Connor broke off a 17‑8 run in the first quarter to take command of the game.

The winner of this week’s first‑round game at regionals was to face Deer Valley Feb. 14 in the second round. Mountain Ridge, the regular season champion, is hosting the regionals after the first round. The championship game is set for 7 p.m. Feb. 16.

Boulder Creek wins three of final four

ANTHEM – Wins in three of their final four regular season games earned Boulder Creek the No. 5 seed at this week’s Northwest Region tournament.

The Jaguars routed Goldwater 61‑41 Feb. 9 to finish the regular season with a 14‑12 overall record and a 6‑8 mark in the region.

Boulder Creek’s only blemish last week came Feb. 6 in a 56‑43 loss to Deer Valley. The Jaguars blew a first‑half lead as Deer Valley outscored them 34‑18 in the second half.

Boulder Creek was scheduled to play at North Canyon in the first round of regionals Feb. 12. Results of the game were unavailable at press time. The winner was slated to play at No. 1‑seed Mountain Ridge in the second round Feb. 14.                

Goldwater fails to get elusive victory

NORTH VALLEY – Goldwater came up short in its final three attempts to get a win this season. The Bulldogs lost their final three games by similar scores to Deer Valley (68‑45), Kingman (66‑42), and Boulder Creek (61‑41).

The Bulldogs finished the season 0‑26 and 0‑14 and did not qualify for the playoffs. The team’s best shot at a victory came Nov. 22 in a 39‑33 loss to Glendale at its own Goldwater Hoops Invitational.