4A Championship: Sahuaro/Deer Valley

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On February 29th at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum, the <strong>Sahuaro Cougars</strong> took on the <strong>Deer Valley Skyhawks</strong> for the Boys 4A Championship. Sahuaro found a rhythm in the opening quarter as they continuously hit corner threes. At the end of one, it was 22-19 in favor of Sahuaro. The first half was a back-and-forth match as the Skyhawks held a slim 35-33 lead at halftime after ending the quarter on a 10-0 run. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>At the end of the 3rd quarter, Deer Valley continued to lead the Cougars 48-45. In the 4th quarter, just when it seemed the Skyhawks were going to win, The Cougars forced the game into OT with a basket with 4 seconds remaining in regulation. In overtime, the Skyhawks were able to pull out a close one against a tough Sahuaro team <strong>63-61</strong>. Deer Valley wins its first state title in boys' basketball. <br><br><br><strong>Here I look at some of the standouts from this championship matchup:</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1674458' first='Travis' last='Vasquez'] <strong>Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The senior didn't shoot as well as he could, but he came up big when his team needed him. He protected the ball well the entire game, and he hit a big three in overtime to give Deer Valley some breathing room. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Tyler Wenk Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Tyler came out of the gate hot from the perimeter. He had a big first quarter and a nice-looking jump shot extending to the three-point line. He also was the leading rebounder in the game. <br><br>[player_tooltip player_id='1893665' first='Cisco' last='Llamas'] <strong>Sahuaro</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The shifty guard could get into the defense's teeth and create shots for his teammates. He has excellent vision as a passer. Even though he didn't shoot well from the field he hit a clutch 3 in regulation that helped send the game to overtime. <br><br>[player_tooltip player_id='2365468' first='Nick' last='Ponds']<strong> Sahuaro</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ponds is a nice wing who shot the ball efficiently for the Cougars. On defense, he got in the passing lanes and blocked some shots. Nick also rebounded very well from his position. <br><br>[player_tooltip player_id='1674510' first='AJ' last='Ajawin'] <strong>Deer Valley</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>AJ was causing major trouble with his length and ability to alter shots. It won't show in the stats, but he altered more than a few shots. Offensively, he took high-percentage shots and attacked the paint aggressively. <br><br>[player_tooltip player_id='2134484' first='Jamal' last='Ali'] <strong>Sahuaro</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The junior forward played a solid all-around game. He took shots within the flow of the offense and didn't force the action. He attacked the offensive glass aggressively, accounting for almost half of his team's offensive rebounds. <br></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->