A heavy dose of Mason Blankenship in the first half. A heavy dose of Torin Bosch in the second half. A steady dose of Christian Warren all game long.

That trio's offense and strong team defense added up to host and #6 seed Basha crushing #11 Maricopa, 67-33, on Thursday night in the first round of the 6A state basketball tournament.

Basha (20-7) advances to play its Val Vista Drive neighbor to the north -- #3 Perry -- in the quarterfinals on Wednesday (Feb. 23) at Perry. Perry advanced defeating Queen Creek, 70-37. Maricopa's strong season ended with a 24-5 record.

Blankenship, a senior, netted 17 of his 18 points in the first half. He inflicted long-range shooting on Maricopa connecting on 4 of 7 threes in the first half. Basha led 31-8 at intermission. Bosch, a junior, took his turn scoring in the second half came to the tune of 14 of his 16 points. Bosch made 3 of 4 threes in the third quarter. Warren, a sophomore, tallied 16 points - eight in each half. The Bears built a 56-23 lead after three quarters initiating a running clock for the fourth quarter in a surprisingly easy triumph.

Basha coach Mike Grothaus was thankful for the offense the aforementioned trio provided, but leaned to liking the Bears' efforts on the other end of the floor.

"We did a nice job on defense, really proud of our guys," Grothaus said. "I thought we did a great job on Patton. We were able to stay in front of him. It was tough for him to get good shots."

Patton, who averages 19 points a game, did not score in the first half. He was 0 for 10 from the field the first 16 minutes. Patton finished with nine points - all in the third period with the game already well out of reach. Junior guard RJ Lee topped Maricopa in scoring with 13 points.

 

 

Basha's Mason Blankenship (3) has his shot contested by Maricopa's Kevin Patton Jr. (24). (Azpreps365 photo)