Sunnyslope/Perry Open Division Championship Recap

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On March 4th the <strong>Sunnyslope Vikings</strong> took on the Gilbert <strong>Perry Pumas</strong> for the Open Division Championship. This was the first year of the Open Division so it was a highly anticipated match-up. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Perry jumped out to a 8-2 lead in the first quarter. It was obvious that they were trying to establish their physical advantage over the young Vikings from the tip off. Sunnyslope got back into the game by having good ball movement. The game was tied at 10 when Perry went on a 6-0 run to close out the first quarter. The score heading into the 2nd quarter was 16-10 in favor of Perry. The 2nd quarter was much of the same as the Pumas were trying to physically wear down the Vikings especially in the painted area. A hot shooting period carried Perry through the quarter. In contrast Sunnyslope struggled by shooting 35% heading into the half. At halftime the Pumas had a 36-18 lead ending the quarter on a 12-3 run. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 3rd quarter Sunnyslope came out swinging in an effort to cut into the lead. They began to find their rhythm offensively. They only problem is they couldn't stop Perry in the painted area where they continued to take advantage of their length. A three pointer at the buzzer by Sunnyslope cuts the lead to 55-38 at the end of the 3rd quarter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Starting the 4th quarter Perry starts off with an and one in an effort to try to put away the Vikings. The Perry lead stays right under 20 for the majority of the first half of the last quarter. Perry will not be denied as they finish the game off strong and win <strong>74-58</strong>. Perry wins back to back championships and are the 2023 Boys Open Division Champions. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Here are some of the standouts from this contest</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1129193' first='Koa' last='Peat'] <strong>Perry </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A man amongst boys on offense and defense. Peat showed his dominance from the tip off. He shot high percentage shots and didn't miss much. As impressive as he was on offense his rebounding and shot blocking were better. He collected rebounds in bunches and contested and/or blocked a ton of shots. One of the top 2025's in the country. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1482165' first='Rider' last='Portela'] <strong>Sunnyslope</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The freshman wing did what he could to keep his team close. He is a good shooter as well as a ball handler. His creativity as a scorer helped him against the bigger Perry team as he hit shots from all three levels. He rebounded very well from his position. One of the top 2026's on the West Coast</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='831114' first='Cody' last='Williams'] <strong>Perry</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The McDonald's All American did his job and that was to lead his team to a championship. Even though he sacrifices his offense for the betterment of the team you still see glimpses of his skill set. Extremely long crafty ball handler who seems to always be two steps from the rim and shoots it with touch. He has excellent vision as a passer and is always looking to make the right play. A consensus top 10 player nationally in 2023</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='994680' first='Jai' last='Anthoni Bearden'] <strong>Sunnyslope</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Bearden is an athletic wing who could be on the verge of breaking out. He showed his potential as an active athletic scorer who can finish with the best of them. He was in attack mode every time he caught the ball. He rebounded very well for the Vikings. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='996172' first='D'Andre' last='Harrison'] <strong>Perry</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Harrison was all over the place as he found room to operate and almost came away with a double double. He displayed a feathery touch from the mid range and even showed that he can step out and hit the three ball. He is a very good rebounder as he just has a good nose for the ball</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='814513' first='Ben' last='Egbo'] <strong>Perry</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior guard does a lot of little things that don't show up in the box score. He guarded multiple players, rebounded, and was a vocal leader for his team. Another player who doesn't shoot as much as he could but rather he picks his spots for high percentage looks. Has made great strides transitioning to a pure perimeter player and should only get better in college. <br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->