Ironwood vs Sunnyslope

<p>Yesterday, Ironwood took on Sunnyslope at home. This is the second time these teams have played each other this season as they matched up once in a tournament beforehand. First off, I just want to say that these two teams absolutely battled. These games are always so fun and competitive! As a former Ironwood coach, I can tell you that is was always a grind playing Coach Portela and Sunnyslope. </p> <p>The game was neck and neck all game long until Ironwood eventually pulled away late into the 3rd. Going into the 4th, Sunnyslope tried chipping away at the Ironwood lead, but it was a little too late for them to come back. I'll go over some thoughts and analysis from each team:</p> <p><strong>Ironwood</strong></p> <p>Ironwood played amazing defense, especially on the perimeter. Their run and trap was a little bit too much for Sunnyslope to handle and it really disrupted them. They didn't play great post defense, however Slope does have a significant size advantage in the post. They did a solid job of trapping the post and getting steals off of post entries but if one of the Slope bigs caught it down low, it was an easy 2. Offensively, Ironwood was lights out! Dominic Gonzalez was incredible and got whatever he wanted. He simply looked unstoppable and is by far, one of the best scorers in state. Bailon Black, JJ White, and Steiner Christianson also did a very good job!</p> <p><strong>Sunnyslope</strong></p> <p>As mentioned before, Slope did a really good job in the post. They struggled to score anything out side of the paint, but did damage down low. I thought Paul Hayden really carried them and is by far their most skilled player. He's very impressive! Grady Lewis and Carson Basham did damage on the boards and in the paint. Basham especially had quite a few points in the paint. I am not a huge fan of flexing and show boating after every lay-up but that's just me. Slope played hard and really tried disrupting Ironwood's guards but unfortunately for them, came up a bit short in the end. </p> <p>I am really looking forward to their next match up, as this was the first region play game between these great squads. We'll see them play once more at Slope!</p>