Division II, Section IV Tournament

 

The top seeds hate sectional tournaments but the lower seeds love them.

Because a section champion earns an automatic berth to the state tournament, the sectional tournaments serve as a second chance for teams on the edge - teams such as No. 27 Tucson and No. 31 Marana Mountain View.

If the season ended Thursday morning, then No. 10 Catalina Foothills and No. 13 Salpointe would have had very little to worry about. The Falcons would be the section champion and both teams would earn a home game in the first round of the Division II state playoffs and Tucson and Mountain View would have turned in their uniforms. But the season is not over.

This is why we call it February Frenzy.

Tucson extended its season by defeating Salpointe 69-54 in the first game and Catalina Foothills held on to defeat Mountain View 52-42 in the other semifinal.

Salpointe (19-8) has had an uneven season so far. Big wins over Cienega, Sunnyside, Nogales and Sahuaro were balanced by tough losses to Rincon, Catalina Foothills and Mountain View. But the Lancers also took care of Tucson (15-13) last Tuesday at home.

Still, the Lancers had nothing to lose but the Badgers had everything to lose. It was do-or-die for Tucson Thursday night. Insert any cliché you want, the Badgers came in knowing they had to win and they played like it.

"I knew I had to step up tonight and take some control," senior guard Parker Trujillo said. "We came so close last time and we felt it was taken from us. We knew we had to win this game."

It looked like Salpointe was going to cruise to an easy victory after starting out with a 7-2 lead but senior Hernan Cabrera hit three 3-pointers down the stretch, including a banker off the backboard from about 25 feet out as time expired in the first period to give Tucson a 13-9 lead. It was a lead the Badgers would never give up.

"I knew it was our game after Hernan hit that shot," Trujillo added. "You could just feel it. I knew our shots were going to go down."

And they did.

Trujillo added three deep shots of his own in the second quarter and Salpointe was down 28-20 at the half.

The Lancers were caught playing to the strength of the Badgers. Instead of taking advantage of the inside, the Lancers settled for quick 3-pointers and, when they did get to the basket, a miss was rebounded by Tucson.

Then came the third quarter.

Salpointe finally found the outside shot and connected on five 3-pointers. Majok Deng made one with 1:13 left in the third and Salpointe was down only 41-39 but Cabrera made a couple of shots and Tucson led 45-41 heading to the fourth.

But the Badgers kept coming and outscored Salpointe 24-13 down the stretch for the 69-54 win and a shot at the state playoffs.

Cam Miller led Salpointe with 17 points, Deng added 11 and Ethan Parkhurst scored nine. Salpointe is still headed for the state playoffs but power points will continue to be calculated during the sectional tournaments. The top 16 teams will host a first or second-round game.

Cabrera led all scorers with 20 points, Trujillo added 17, Deondre Eason scored 16 and Tyree Pierson scored 10 for Tucson. The win might move the Badgers into the top 24 but the a win over Catalina Foothills (18-7) on Saturday night will guarantee a berth in the state playoffs. In fact, the section champion will be guaranteed at least a 12-seed.

Tucson could move from No. 27 to No. 12 in a flash.

Catalina Foothills struggled to put distance between themselves and Mountain View (13-11) early on but the Mountain Lions failed to take advantage when they had the chance and the game went back and forth with the Falcons clinging to an 11-8 lead after the first quarter, 24-19 at the half and 30-24 heading to the fourth.

Junior forward Jared Irwin finished with a game-high 19 points and he proved to be the difference. Even without a shot clock,  Irwin drained three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter including one with a 43-36 lead with only 1:10 left in the game.

"In a game like this, if I'm open, I'm shooting," Irwin explained. "I was open a couple of times early on and missed a few but the shots kept coming."

The Falcons held on for a 52-42 win to end Mountain View's postseason hopes but Irwin knew what could have happened after witnessing what happened to Salpointe earlier.

"It proved to us that we can't take anyone lightly," he added. "We showed Mountain View respect because of what they can do on the inside and we know we can't take Tucson lightly either with the way PJ (Trujillo) is playing."

Nik Nehls added 11 points for Catalina Foothills while DeShaun Flannigan-Fowles led Mountain View with 18 points and Troy Shaw added nine.

Tucson and Catalina Foothills will play for the section title on Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Mountain View High School. The AIA Bracket Show will take place Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m.