Photo: 1 Uriah Tenette goes up against 5 John Mattingly
The Sunnyslope Vikings sent the Prescott Badgers home with a 63-38 opening round loss in the AIA Open Division playoffs. Prescott entered the game as the 23rd seed. Host Sunnyslope came in at #10.
The Vikings (22-5) had only lost one home game all season, by two points, and it did not take long to see why. Sunnyslope brought a quick and very physical presence to the court that the Badgers could not meet.
“We knew what they could do, and we tried to prepare for that, but we obviously couldn’t matchup with them tonight”, said Prescott Coach Travis Stedman. “It is easy to see why they have lost only one home again. They have played some strong opponents this year, one of those losses was to the top seed Perry.”
Uriah Tenette was doubled team most of the game and worked very hard just to get a shot off. The Badgers fell behind before Tenette had his moment, drilling a three pointer to give Prescott their only lead of the game 5-4, with six minutes left in the opening quarter.
Photo: 10 Zane Gaul goes baseline to the basket in the first half
Sunnyslope went on a 12-0 run to take a 16-5 lead, before a Zane Gaul baseline drive to the basket ended the drought. Gaul worked very hard, finishing with a team leading 14 points and five rebounds. The sophomore had his hands full with the physical play in the paint by Jai Anthony Bearden and Cristian Simmons. The deficit grew to 15 after the first quarter as the officials let the players play, calling only one foul in the first eight minutes.
The Badgers began to get settle in with the kind of play that was being tolerated. The result was an evenly played quarter, with both team scoring 14 points, as Prescott trailed 37-22 at the half.
Switching baskets did not help the Badgers, as numerous shots rimmed out in the third quarter, while the Vikings got back to building on their lead. Sunnyslope’s physicality subsided a bit, but the lack of offense proved way too much to overcome. Trailing 58-29 at the end of the third quarter, the Badgers came out and played till the very end. A running clock began when the Vikings made it 60-29. Minimal offense finished off the final eight minutes sending Prescott to just their third loss of the season.
The numbers really tell the story as Sunnyslope outrebounded the Badgers 31-19, and led in steals 11-7. The Vikings also made 12 free throws to Prescott’s three, and they were able to hold Tenette to a season low eight point.
Zane Gaul said, “We didn’t come out physical enough at the start and that put us in a bad spot. It was definitely a learning experience, and there are things we can take from this game and use as we start the 4A playoffs.”
Stedman added, “We didn’t do enough tonight to help Uriah out, and that really hurt us. We’ll get back to work. We have some time, and some things to work on, so we can be ready for out next opponent.”
The Badgers (20-3) will have time to regroup and get prepared for their first round matchup in the Division 4A playoffs. Prescott will host a first round game on Thursday, February 16 at 7pm.
SUNNYSLOPE VIKINGS 63, PRESCOTT BADGERS 38
PRESCOTT (38)-Magnett 0 0-0 0, Tenette 2 3-4 8, Gaul 7 0-1 14, Hilton 1 0-0 2, Bassett 2 0-0 4, Buettner 1 0-0 2, Lyon 1 0-0 3, Smith 1 0-0 2, Brown 0 0-0 0, Dutson 0 0-2 0, Bernardo 1 0-0 3, Van Dyke 0 0-0 0. 16 3-7 38.
SUNNYSLOPE (63)-Mattingly 1 2-2 5, Bearden 7 1-1 15, North 4 0-0 8, Portela 5 6-6 15, Rojas 1 1-4 4, Hartman 3 0-0 8, Simmons 1 0-0 2, Cirone 1 2-2 5, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Sousa 0 0-0 0, Parmley 0 0-0 0. 23 12-15 63.
Score by Quarters- 1 2 3 4 – T
Prescott 8 14 7 9 – 38
Sunnyslope 23 14 21 5 – 63
Total Fouls- P 13, S 10
Fouled out-None
Three Pointers- P(3)-Tenette 1, Lyon 1, Bernardo 1, S(5)-Hartman 2, Cirone 1, Mattingly 1, Bearden 1.
OPEN DIVISION FIRST ROUND SCORES
Sunnyslope 63, PRESCOTT 38
St. Mary’s 60, Bradshaw Mountain 56
Perry 78, Cienega 54
Pinnacle 81, Mountain View Mesa 67
Millennium 75, Sandra Day O’Connor 64
Liberty 82, Tucson 69
Ironwood 79, Cactus 41
Canyon View 76, Boulder Creek 64
Desert Mountain 76, Mesa 60
Highland 75, Sahuaro 51
Peoria 79, Sahuaro 51
Notre Dame Prep 89, North Canyon 58
Basha 53, Centennial 48
Brophy Prep 80, Mesquite 63
Campo Verde 62, Central 42
ALA-Gilbert North 62, Gilbert 55
OPEN DIVISION-Second Round Games, Friday, February 10 at 7pm
#10 Sunnyslope (22-5) at #7 Campo Verde (23-3)
#18 St. Mary’s (15-12) at #2 ALA-Gilbert North (26-1)
#16 Pinnacle (15-12) at #1 Perry (26-1)
#9 Millennium (24-3) at #8 Liberty (21-6)
#21 Canyon View (20-6) at #5 Ironwood (22-5)
#13 Desert Mountain (23-4) at #4 Highland (25-2)
#14 Notre Dame Prep (22-5) at #3 Peoria (24-3)
#11 Basha (22-5) at #6 Brophy Prep (21-7)
Quarterfinals-February 18
Semifinals-February 24
Finals-March 4
4A CONFERENCE- Play-In Games, Tonight 7pm
#24 Agua Fria (9-13) at #9 Deer Valley (18-7)
#18 Seton Catholic Prep (14-12) at #15 Paradise Honors (15-11)