By Alexander Soroko
After beating a highly-ranked Bradshaw Mountain team by a score of 60-56 in round 1 of the playoffs on Feb. 8, the St. Mary’s boys varsity basketball team defeated ALA Gilbert – the number-two seed – by a score of 87-77 on Feb. 10, and entered the “Elite Eight” round of the tournament.
Unfortunately, the Knights’ run in the playoffs ended on Feb. 18 when they faced the Sunnyslope High School Vikings and lost a “nail-biter” in overtime by a score of 62-63.
The Knights’ impressive showing in the playoffs followed an up-and-down season that left them with a 16-13 overall record.
The team was on fire during the midseason, at one point completing a five-game win streak (which included a big victory over Mesquite High School on Jan. 24).
The season started off with impressive victories over Regis Jesuit High School (70-64) on 12/2, Brophy College Prep (69-63), and Marcos de Niza (69-58). The victories featured dominating performances by senior forward Seydou Tamboura who controlled the paint, strong offensive production from sophomore forward Caspian “Cash” Jones and some terrific passing by junior point guard Styles Phipps.
During the same period, the team struggled in losses to Notre Dame Prep (83-77), Gray Collegiate Academy (from South Carolina) (71-61), and the Milton Eagles (73-49).
The Knights then went 2-6 in tournaments with wins over St. Raymond Boys Ravens from The Bronx, NY, and Long Beach Poly Jackrabbits from Long Beach, CA.
Coming off a great game against Flagstaff on Jan. 3, the boys played the 12th best team in the nation – Perry High School. For that game, the SMHS Bool Gymnasium was packed with a huge showing of Saint Mary’s supporters and students. The game was close with Phipps putting up a total of 48 points leading the team in scoring and Tamboura putting up 10 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks when going up in the paint against the third best sophomore in the nation. In spite of the impressive performances, the Knights still fell short losing 70-81. They then lost to the Mesquite Wildcats by two points in a close away game with Phipps putting up a total of 45 points.
On Jan. 12, the Knights put together another great victory over Marcos de Niza, (79-54), with Phipps showing off his great passing vision and impressive vertical with a dunk. The boys then took on Arcadia High School with Phipps and sophomore guard Kenny White accounting for more than half of the Knights’ points in an 80-40 win. On Jan. 20, the Knights traveled to Saguaro High School and put on a good shooting performance (hitting 76% from the free throw line) and came away with an 87-58 victory
Late in the month, the Knights traveled to Santa Ana, Ca., and lost to perennial basketball powerhouse Mater Dei High School on Jan. 28.
Looking back over the season, Coach Damin Lopez said, “We are all real proud of this team, they fought through illness and injuries while competing against one of the toughest schedules in the country. They ended up having a chance in the first Open Championship to advance into the late rounds. We had some unbelievable moments, including beating Brophy, and they all can hold their heads high knowing they competed at a high level for the SM community.”
