5A Rd 1: Pride’s youth gets past Centennial to advance

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>I watched the February 26th 5A Round-1 playoff game with<strong>&nbsp;#3 Mountain Pointe Pride hosting the #14 Centennial Coyotes</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the more exciting playoff games I have tuned into so far. The home team led 21-20 at the end of the 1st quarter with a very fast paced "7-seconds or less" type of start. The Pride led 38-35 at halftime with [player_tooltip player_id='1351130' first='Amous' last='Price'] playing well along with [player_tooltip player_id='1780586' first='Romell' last='Shields'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1780585' first='Aidan' last='Lee Delafield'] for the Coyotes. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3rd quarter started and Centennial came out fast and took the lead with their top trio of Shields, Delafield and [player_tooltip player_id='1598402' first='Johnny' last='Rios III'] strong play and led 57-52 heading into the 4th quarter. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The 4th quarter came and the youth took over. [player_tooltip player_id='2466075' first='Jayvein' last='Moody'], [player_tooltip player_id='1956218' first='Marcus' last='Isaac'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2194481' first='Justin' last='Kimbrough'] took charge with big shots, blocks and assists to get past Centennial<strong> 81-72</strong> with an entertaining game. The Pride impressively had 6 in double figures. They will host Campo Verde tomorrow night at 7:00pm.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Centennial season is over but their big-3 are coming back along with [player_tooltip player_id='2432454' first='Sekou' last='Sackor'] and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2433722' first='Weston' last='Chavez'] who played some tonight off the bench. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Here were the standouts</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2194481' first='Justin' last='Kimbrough'] Mountain Pointe (Pictured)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A dynamic pure point guard had a huge game. He came in off the bench and essentially never went back to the sidelines. He guides the team with dimes all over the court with next level court vision, speed with his yo-yo handle and showed off his skill. He scored with blow-by takes, catch threes and mid-range jumpers. He scored a team high 18 points with 5+ assists.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2466075' first='Jayvein' last='Moody'] Mountain Pointe&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring combo guard hit big shot after big shot all night long. Every time you thought Centennial would make a huge run, Moody hit a big shot. He has no fear and the lefty will drill it from deep off the pull or catch plus score on put backs or even alley-oops. His calmness under pressure showed. He scored 13 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1956218' first='Marcus' last='Isaac'] Mountain Pointe</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The third freshmen controlled the paint by rebounding anything near him and he must have had 4+ blocks on the night and even more alters. He has a fluid handle to rip thru and will score with fall aways, runners, put backs and dunks. He scored 10+ points with almost 10 rebounds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1351130' first='Amous' last='Price'] Mountain Pointe&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>One of the three seniors who get real heavy minutes is Price. He is tough and physical and loves getting downhill and will score thru the contact or will get trips to the free throw line. He will defend and will score on put backs and lays it all on the line. He scored 13+ points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2108097' first='Kaden' last='Gollhuir'] Mountain Pointe&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring point guard started slowly but picked it up with coast to coast takes to the basket with a burst and a nice handle. He shields himself versus a shot blocker to score with nice body control. He will also make a full court pass to a teammate for the assist. He scored 10 points.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2134290' first='Mark' last='Wiltshire Jr'] Mountain Pointe</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A long lefty wing forward is active. He has some springs to throw it down on the break but he can also score with mid-range jumpers, offensive rebound put backs and he will grab a ball out of his area with his effort. He scored 10 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1780585' first='Aidan' last='Lee Delafield'] Centennial</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A pure scorer has the ball in his hands a lot of the game. He makes it look very easy in stretches. He will score with nasty mid-range pull-ups one by one, threes off the catch, quick bursts to the basket thru the contact and he even had a tip dunk showing off his bounce. He poured in a game high 22 points. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1598402' first='Johnny' last='Rios III'] Centennial&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The pure point guard of the team almost guided the Coyotes to an upset victory. He sees the court quickly and throws the dime. He will also score with floaters, finger rolls to the hoop, sharp pull-ups off the dribble and he is a quick second jumper to go back up to rebound and score. He scored 13+ points with multiple assists.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1780586' first='Romell' last='Shields'] Centennial&nbsp;</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard is a bucket. He is a three level scorer with deep threes off the catch or pull, drives to the basket, mid pull-ups and he can handle the bump for the and-1 plus he rebounds well in his area for his size. He scored 17 points.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2432454' first='Sekou' last='Sackor'] Centennial</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A scoring guard with some speed and quickness. The lefty got hot in this game from the perimeter and hit multiple triples off the catch with a quicker release and some range. He can also pull-up from mid range and he is quick on the ball defensively. He scored 11 points.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->