Mesquite at St. Mary's Final-4 recap

On Tuesday, February 22nd I attended the 4A Final-4 with Mesquite Wildcats at St. Mary’s Knights in Phx, AZ.   Quick game recap: Mesquite jumped out on top quickly with a 21-10 first quarter lead. Gonzales was on fire from deep. It was a 37-26 halftime lead for the Wildcats. Mesquite led 50-42 heading into the 4th quarter and the Knights size was slowly wearing down the Wildcats. Phelps was playing great in the 3rd and then Phipps started getting going in the 4th. SM took the lead and started getting on the glass with Cherry and Tamboura. Gonzales and Calmese kept fighting and and SM was up two with 2.3 seconds left and then this happened: https://twitter.com/EVision_AZ/status/1496341904946266114   Here were the standouts on the night: [player_tooltip player_id="701246" first="Nathan" last="Calmese"] Mesquite (Pictured) A natural scorer from all levels had a decent game for his standards with 26 points. He was under his average and forced a couple shots, but had one of the best AIA plays of the year, if not the last five years. He stole the ball from beyond the half court line and heaved it to make a 3 at the buzzer to advance to the 4A state finals. You won’t see many plays like this, especially what the game meant. He drove the lane and scored over their big size, he hesitates well and makes a quick burst to the cup. He was engaged on defense and found teammates for scores. He put the cherry on top for 4A POY. [player_tooltip player_id="814517" first="Cohen" last="J Gonzales"] Mesquite I told my buddy before the game that if Cohen J can have a great game, the Wildcats have a chance for the upset. Well he did just that. He was scorching hot from deep and all over the court. He was steady too. He had 19 in the first half and 11 in the 2nd half to finish with a game high of 30. His deep range and speed were on display. His burst to the hole and athleticism makes him the tough cover despite his lack of size. He makes shots in traffic over size, which most can’t since he leaps up so high. He has a super quick trigger to get it off before the defense gets to him and he is always moving around trying to free himself from the D. He also rebounded unusually well with 5+ boards and threw 4-5 dimes on the night. Elijah Foster W 6’0 2022 Mesquite A long armed wing two-way player is their 6th man. He confidently hit three triples off the catch from passes via Gonzales/Calmese. He uses his length and athleticism to defend on the ball and even had one monster block inside. [player_tooltip player_id="1216999" first="Jaylen" last="Wollangk"] Mesquite Another important piece to their state final run for next Monday is a defensive guard. He has a strong upper body with good lateral quickness to slow down his opponents. He also hit a clutch catch-3 in rhythm at an important time in the game. [player_tooltip player_id="994006" first="Styles" last="Phipps"] St. Mary’s A talented soph point guard had a worthy 4th quarter. He was somewhat quiet offensively in the first three quarters then exploded for 15 in the 4th. He has a super tight handle he uses and often changes speeds to get the defense off balanced. He has one of the shiftiest handles and it is hard to know which way he will go. He loves using the pick and roll game where he finds cutters, lobs or he will pull-up from mid-range. He can dribble drive and score though contact and is crafty scoring off the glass and making tough shots in traffic. His on-ball defense was on display with 5+ steals on the night with quick hands and feet. He made many clutch FT’s down the stretch until the big Calmese shot. He finished with 23 points. [player_tooltip player_id="701238" first="Garrison" last="Phelps"] St. Mary’s A wildly athletic guard had a good showing for himself. He had multiple highlight reel dunks but also made many off balanced contested shots in the lane at important times during the game. His pull-up was on and he hit a catch-3. He rebounds in bunches, blocks shots with his bounce and collected around four steals. He had stretches where he carried the team in the first three quarters with 18 of their 42 points. He finished with 24 points. [player_tooltip player_id="826995" first="Jeremiah" last="Cherry"] St. Mary’s He only scored 9 points but he was a menace on the defensive end. He gobbled up almost 10 rebounds and blocked four shots, but altered maybe another five. Offensively, he scored on hook shots and put backs. He has huge hands to catch tough passes in the lane. [player_tooltip player_id="831120" first="Seydou" last="Tamboura"] St. Mary’s A strong junior who has some pop and length. He rebounds well in his area and showed that his touch from the free throw line is steadily improving. He brings activity around the basket and is decent in space. [player_tooltip player_id="1312333" first="Kenny" last="White"] St. Mary’s Outside of Phipps, not many underclassmen play heavy minutes. White will be relied on more next year. The lefty has some quickness and a good IQ to know where to be on the court. He had six points in the loss.