Girl's Division II State Championship

 

Round 2: Friday, Feb. 19 at Tucson

No. 13 Sahuaro 65, No. 4 Tucson 60

 

Quarterfinals: Tuesday, Feb. 23 at Gila River Arena

No. 13 Sahuaro vs. No. 5 Mesa, 2:30 p.m.

 

Survival is the key if a team wants to advance in the state playoffs and No. 13 Sahuaro did that not once against No. 4 Tucson on Friday night but six times. Six times. The Badgers battled back from large deficits six times but the Cougars held on for a 65-60 win to advance to the quarterfinal round of the Division II playoffs.

Sydney Harden scored seven of the her 14 points in the first quarter to help build 13-5 lead for Sahuaro (23-5) but Alexis Cortez hit a three and Alize McCormick hit another to erase that lead only to have Carina Mendoza and Elena Arriaga respond at the other end to give Sahuaro a 19-13 lead heading to the second.

Tucson (25-4) went on a 12-2 run to take a 25-21 lead to erase another deficit but Arriaga hit two more bombs to help fuel a run for Sahuaro and the Cougars took a 32-27 lead at the half.

Cortez scored five of her game-high 21 points and Andreena Chavez hit her second three of the game and Tucson went back up 41-38 to erase another deficit with 4:30 left in the third.

Like all teams, Tucson and Sahuaro are both stocked with scoring leaders and role players. Cortez and McCormick are expected to carry the scoring load for Tucson while Arriaga, Harden and Reazsha Benjamin are expected to do the same for Sahuaro but most games are decided by the mostly unrecognized work of the many players who surround the scorers.

For Tucson, Chavez finished with 10 points, Marissa Miller ran the floor and sophomore forward Rachel Obedin scored six and collected several huge rebounds to keep the Badgers alive. There was moment when she was the most valuable player on the court.

Likewise, Mendoza came up big for the Cougars thanks to eight points including five free throws and Shelby Mattice added six points. In fact, the Cougars made 20 free throws including 11 in the deciding fourth quarter alone.

"We came in strong and never put our heads down," Mendoza said. "We knew free throws would be important and we needed to make them for the win."

Tucson took a 48-46 lead after the third but the Badgers went over five minutes without scoring while Benjamin scored seven, Mendoza made a couple of free throws and Harden scored again to give the Cougars a 59-48 lead with 2:30 left in the game but even that lead wasn't enough with Cortez on the floor.

Cortez scored six straight points to cut the lead down to 59-54 with 2:06 left but Benjamin scored to end the run for a moment. Cortez scored again with 58.3 seconds left and the Cougar lead was down to 61-58.

Arriaga hit a couple of free throws and then Angelica Chavez hit two for Tucson and the score was 63-60 Sahuaro with 36.6 seconds left. Benjamin made one free throw but a Badger turnover ended all hopes of one final comeback and Mendoza hit a free throw for the 65-60 final.

Cortez, Miller and Harden all fouled out of the game but not before Cortez could set another milestone.

Cortez needed 20 points to break into the top five career scoring list for the state of Arizona and she scored 10 in the final 2:21 to do it. With 2,479 career points, the East Carolina commit passed former Mountain Pointe, Stanford, WNBA standout and current Oregon assistant coach Nicole Powell's mark of 2,478.

Only Julie Brase, (Catalina Foothills (2,913) 1994-1998), Kayla Pedersen (Red Mountain (2,611) 2003-2007), Christina Wirth (Seton Catholic (2,550) 2001-2005) and Ashley Wirtzberger (Yuma Catholic/Gila Bend (2,505) 2006-2010) have scored more in the history of girl's basketball in Arizona. Brase is the current assistant coach of the Phoenix Mercury.

"It's been really fun to watch her grow not only as a basketball player but as a person," said Tucson head coach Annette Gutierrez. "Her growth on the court and off was a remarkable thing to see. She will have a great future at the next level"

Gutierrez also got to see her daughter (Marissa Miller) play up close and, although she understandably hasn't had time to process what it meant to see her daughter finish her high school career, she did get to see her grow on the court.

"She is probably the most unselfish player I have coached," Gutierrez added. "She came though with Alexis and they became close. She saw Alexis needed the ball and she made sure she had it. I'm just really proud of her."

Cortez had a lot on her shoulders and, like a lot of great competitors, she felt she may have let her school down in terms of a championship banner hanging on the gym wall but only one team wins one each year. Her accomplishments are not only the best in Tucson history, they are historic in nature.

"I told Alexis she was one of the best players I have ever coached against," Sahuaro head coach Steve Botkin said. "She stresses you out. She is so big and her arms are long but I think Reazsha did a good job on her tonight.

Benjamin was the one constant in the game and her 12 points in the fourth quarter practically guaranteed a win and helped overcome Cortez's efforts late in the game.

"We battled them the first time we played them and we missed a few shots in that game," Botkin added. "I just had a feeling this would be another good matchup for both teams. Sometimes you get that feeling but this is a game of runs and every time we went ahead by six or seven they would come back. We knew they would.

"We kept our poise and kept our heads up."

Sahuaro will face No. 5 Mesa (27-4) next Tuesday in the quarterfinal round. Mesa got past No. 12 Ironwood Ridge 44-35 to advance. No. 9 Cienega lost to No. 8 Maricopa 59-39 which means Sahuaro is the last team from Southern Arizona still playing in Division II.