Randy Walker has traversed those roads with his wife, Lisa, a regular passenger in Walker’s scouting trips across the state. They’ve encountered their share of basketball highs and lows while trekking.

The North Valley Christian Academy couple—Lisa is a teacher and Walker’s the school’s boy’s basketball coach—make a good team. Lisa’s shoulder was at the ready when her husband experienced a 1A low last year when his team lost in the championship game.

That North Valley Christian, just in its third year of varsity ball, made it that far was a high in itself. But the school’s first ever state runner-up team trophy didn’t console the dejected team during its one-hour plus bus ride from Prescott, the state title site, to its north Phoenix home.

The one-year anniversary of that game recently passed, and the Lions want to avoid what happened on Feb. 22, 2020. That 62-46 loss to Fort Thomas still stings but motivates them now more than anything.

Like last year, North Valley Christian is a favorite this season to cut the nets in the 1A tournament, which starts Friday. The returning leaders hit the gym and worked their tails off to prepare for this season, but their offseason was like no other.

About five North Valley Christian players tested positive for COVID-19 and so did members of Walker’s family. Fortunately, those affected recovered.

But North Valley Christian and the rest of the winter Arizona high school basketball teams then came close to not tying their laces this season. The executive board of the Arizona Interscholastic Association, by a narrow margin, ruled originally to cancel the winter season.

However, it reversed its decision a couple of days later. North Valley Christian could exhale.

It didn’t waste its breath, landing the No. 1 state seed for the first time with a 15-1 record. It lost its opening game by a point to 2A defending champ Rancho Solano but ran the table the rest of the regular season.

The team lost its two leading scorers from last season, but two seniors, Braeden Roberts and Josh Walker, Walker’s son, filled the leadership void admirably for the north Phoenix program.

Add some talented youngsters into the mix, and North Valley Christian appears poised for another state title run. After dropping last year’s 1A title tilt to perennial power Fort Thomas, Roberts, the team’s point guard, worked religiously on his game.

He woke up at 3:30 a.m. to drive across town and train with the father of Markus Howard of the Denver Nuggets before school started.

“(Roberts) makes our team go,” Walker said. “He’s unselfish and one of the best leaders I’ve ever coached. He demands a lot from himself and teammates. He takes care of things and will get on his teammate but in an encouraging way. He is mature beyond his years.”

As for Josh, he completely changed his game after a subpar performance in the 2020 final, Walker said.

Josh, a 6-2 forward, is the team’s leading scorer (14.7 ppg), rebounder (5.8 per game) and a captain along with Roberts (13 ppg, 6.4 apg). Walker spoke highly of how his son hardly missed going to workouts in the offseason as well to help atone for last year’s poor shooting outing in the final at the Findlay Toyota Center.

As a team, North Valley Christian only made 15 of its 66 shots (That’s not a misprint.) in the 2020 championship game.

“We walked off the floor not angry, but we left with a bitter taste,” said Walker, the son of a basketball coach.

This year, North Valley Christian is more of an inside-out team.

When 6-5 senior Kai Marusteri plays well inside, his team plays at a different level, Walker said. The future looks bright for North Valley Christian, as four freshmen have played this season.

Of those freshmen, Jesse Graves, Austin Kraemer, a starter, and Jethro Maerina have each played in 10 games or more.

The fourth freshman, Cameron Rice, was out with a hamstring injury but is beginning to get some minutes. The 6-4 Rice can contribute inside the paint once he’s healthy.

“They bring me a lot of joy,” Walker said of his team. “I tell them all of the time, because of the people they are. They are coachable. Work extremely hard and care for each other and are good kids. They have a solid foundation.”

If it wins out, North Valley Christian will become the first squad to furnish its school’s trophy case with a team championship trophy.

This year’s 1A tournament will be about the road less travelled. North Valley Christian and the rest of the 1A tournament field won’t have to play its postseason games in Prescott, like in years past, because of the pandemic.

The high seeds will host the first two rounds. And guess which team North Valley Christian drew in the first round?

Fort Thomas.

Cicero Prep is 10-6 and ranked No. 7 but is capable of making some noise if it makes the playoffs. It converted 13 treys in a loss to North Valley Christian this season. Cicero Prep isn’t as young as last year but does start only one senior. Coach Patrick Brooks stresses defense, rebounding, ball movement, and offensive efficiency. “Our primary scorer and leading rebounder, Quinton Brooks, has added driving and mid-range scoring to his outside shooting,” Brooks said. “Our primary ball-handler, Desi Smith Jr., has become a more consistent shooter and further developed his mid-range and finishing skills. Our defense has been anchored by Rohan Churi and Jaelin Famber, with these two also improving on their mid-range and finishing skills. Jordan Core has spent hours in the gym working on his three-point shooting and it shows. His overall game has made a large one-year improvement. Parker Zidel has worked hard on outside shooting and can make shots off the bench. Charlie Mellor has continued to be one of our better outside shooting threats while working hard on finishing and driving skills. Mark Alway is first or second off the bench and brings hard nose defense, and is one of our best offensive rebounders.” … Mohave Accelerated (19-1) lost in overtime to Cicero Prep but was ranked No. 2 before the state tournament started. It’ll also be a threat at state. This is the team’s third trip to the AIA playoffs. “We are a young team with only two seniors who fill specific roles,” coach Scott Neal said. “Our core group of juniors and sophomores have been playing together since the 6th grade. In that time, they have grown and matured into a true basketball team with a chemistry that coaches cannot teach. The players share the basketball and play for each other within an offense that goes beyond the traditional "5-out" or "4-out" scheme that most high schools run these days. With a blend of size, speed and passing ability, this team plays to win at a high level for their age. The stats take care of themselves without anyone even thinking about it within games. We expect to compete against the top teams in 1A during the state tournament and not be an easy out for anyone regardless of their ranking. Within our schedule this year, we have played seven games against 2A, 3A and 4A opponents and gone 7-0 against those teams. We believe playing these larger schools along with a rigorous 20 game max schedule has prepared us to play in big games at the end of the year.”