Campo Verde advances to 5A title game

March 1, 2023 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Campo Verde"s Ty McDowell drives for a layup in the first half of Campo's 54-53 5A semifinal victory over Centennial on Wednesday night. (Azpreps365 photo)

Top-seed Campo Verde knew it was in for a tough semifinal facing fifth-seed and defending 5A champion Centennial on Wednesday night. Campo Verde received just that from their westside foes and won the battle of the Coyotes.

Campo Verde hung on to a slim lead throughout the fourth quarter to earn its first trip to a basketball final in school history edging Centennial, 54-53, before a packed house at Campo Verde.

Campo Verde's final task in claiming the title comes Friday at 8 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Coyotes opponent in the final is second-seeded Millennium - well-versed in hoops prowess of late. Millennium earned its spot in the final with its 60-57 victory over Sunrise Mountain on Wednesday. Millennium has a championship to its credit (4A in 2008) and runner-up finishes in 2019 and 2020. 

Campo Verde senior guard Isaiah Kai, its scoring leader this season at 17 points a game, delivered at crunch time. Kai tallied nine of his game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. All nine were scored in the first 3 minutes, 20 seconds of the fourth. That scoring burst put Campo up, 50-44.

Centennial scored two unanswered baskets - a putback by guard Zander Kamai and steal and layup by Romero Shields. Those cut the deficit to 50-48 with 2:50 to play. Campo Verde's final two baskets protected the lead. The first was a short jumper by Justin Garcia and second a back-door layup by post Garrett Ahern (assist Kai) for a 54-50 advantage.

Campo Verde committed three turnovers in the final two minutes and Centennial took advantage. A basket by Kamai and a Centennial steal led to a foul. It sent Centennial's Victor Fabuluje to the line. Fabuluje made the first and missed the second making it 54-53 with Campo snaring the rebound on the free-throw miss with 24 seconds to play.

Centennial was forced to foul in the final 20 seconds, but had to foul four times to get Campo Verde to the line. The seventh team foul sent Kai to the line, but time ticked down to 4.1 seconds. Kai missed the front end of a one-and-one with 4.1 seconds left. Centennial turned the ball over on its final possession with a player stepping our of bounds across half-court as time expired.