Mesa High has played a significant part in state athletics with its long history and tradition. Football, basketball and wrestling have been highly successful sports to name a few.
A sport to be honored Tuesday night is one the school helped play a role in inaugurating in the state three decades ago -- boys soccer.
The Mesquite boys soccer team knows how to rebound. The Wildcats bounced back from their first power-point game loss last Friday by stretching Gilbert to a shootout and prevailing, 3-2 (5-3), in a 5A Central Region match at Gilbert High.
The one area of Mesa Mountain View and its boys basketball game Monday night that was consistent was not one a coach wants.
It is another showcase event only with one difference in all the matchups -- they count for more than pride or rivalry.
It is another showcase event only with one difference in all the matchups -- they count for more than pride or in terms of rivalry.
Hamilton High has won most of the games that count so far this season. Friday night was no exception.
The Huskies ended a three-game losing streak over the past two seasons to rival Chandler with another solid performance in taking a 67-46 boys basketball victory over the Wolves in a 5A-I Fiesta Region game at Hamilton.
With basketball teams comprised mostly of 10 to 15 players it is hard to find playing time for more than seven or eight on a roster most nights. Some can find time for up to 10. That juggling act is a choice administered carefully by hardwood mentors. Corona del Sol and Mesa Mountain View boys teams have encountered success in mixing and matching.
Eddy Zubey is still a Knight. The only difference now is the school name before the mascot -- Higley rather than St. Marys.
The Xavier soccer team endured another tough time at the Excaliber Tournament in Santa Ana, Calif., during the recent holiday break.
The results of the tournament for two-time defending state champ Xavier was three losses in three games, but the results didn\\\'t bother coach Barb Chura.
Highland coach Miner Webster is used to winning and winning a lot. But not with his Hawks laboring as much as they have this season.
It happened again Tuesday night as Dobson and a nearly all new cast of characters for the defending state champions pushed Highland to the end in a 67-61 win for the Hawks at Dobson.
McClintock filled its vacant varsity football coaching opening Tuesday hiring Saguaro offensive coordinator Matt Lewis.
Lewis confirmed his hiring and met with McClintock players earlier Tuesday. He replaces Mike Gibbons who was fired in November after the season.
Amphitheater and Arcadia would be right at the top of 4A-II schools without displaying boys basketball prowess since their schools begin with A.
The way the schools are playing as January nears its midpoint has them eschewing an alphabetical hierarchy.
Corona del Sol girls soccer coach Matt Smith had a pretty fair summation of the Aztecs Central Region matchup with Mesquite.
Simone Westbrook, the leading scorer the past two seasons for the Desert Vista girls basketball team, has transferred to Chandler High and will begin playing with the Wolves at mid-month.
The household names for the Corona del Sol boys basketball team are not Rashidi Kabamba, Braden Tennyson and Nick Siefker.
Those names, however, were music to the ears of Aztecs coach Sam Duane Jr. on Thursday night.
A year after winning the 5A-I girls basketball title, Dobson coach Tyler Dumas has nearly gone back to square one. He has ventured to the chalkboad and erased the 2010 lesson. Chiseled out the path for 2011 and perhaps beyond.
The transformation from state champ to building back to that level is gradual. Tha is why Dumas likes the challenge of coaching.
The first basketball experience Kyle Bingham encountered at Mesa Mountain View -- getting cut from the freshman summer team. Bingham had not shown up religiously at open gyms after playing with Poston Junior High as a freshman. That did not bode well for his chances of making the Toros junior varsity once his sophomore year began in the fall of 2008.
Bingham, however, was not overly concerned. As he puts it, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"I have always felt I was meant to play basketball.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Pinnacle brought its young, energetic boys basketball team to Mesa High Tuesday and did not look the part of young very much.
The Pioneers, leading most of the game except for brief moments in the second period and at halftime, outplayed the host Jackrabbits and posted a 67-57 win in a 5A non-region game.
3336 articles by Les Willsey
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