Brophy Prep starts COVID-19 season with victory against Valley Vista
There was no student section Tuesday night. One side of Phoenix Brophy Prep’s large gymnasium had the stands folded with the two teams spread out in folding chairs and plexiglass placed in front of the scorer’s table.
Brophy Prep cheerleaders cheered from the upper balcony, where those stands were folded up.
Below, with only the home players allowed to have two parents each as spectators, coaches could be heard barking out instructions amid the screeching of sneakers on the hardwood.
Everybody wore masks.
Welcome to the Arizona Interscholastic Association boys basketball season in the COVD-19 world.
Brophy broke in the winter sports season with a 57-41 victory over Surprise Valley Vista, after a sluggish first half that was to be expected with this the first AIA basketball game since March 4 when Phoenix Desert Vista was crowned champions before a huge, raucous, mask-less crowd at Arizona State.
“It was a new environment but coach (Matt Hooten) talked to us about it,” said point guard Miles Nash, who had all seven of his points in the final quarter when the Broncos put away the Monsoon. “I think that our team energy on the bench was amazing tonight.”
Get used to it. The masks. The lack of spectators.
But it’s basketball, and that’s all the players and coaches and parents wanted, even while Arizona leads the nation in the coronavirus infection rate.
“It’s amazing once the ball goes up, you kind of lose track of the rest of it,” Hooten said. “I know the kids were really excited to play and just to have a season.”
Valley Vista, a team on the rise under coach Ben Isai, led after a ragged first quarter 8-7, and built a 14-9 lead in the second quarter on a breakaway dunk and a follow-in by Dwayne Porter.
But Brophy was relentless on the boards, especially on the offensive end, and got into a better rhythm in the third quarter when Patrick Chew and Desi Burrage got going. Chew had six points and Burrage made five free throws and hit a 3-pointer, outscoring the Monsoon 24-10 in the third period.
“In the third quarter we got murdered,” Isai said. “We made some mistakes. I didn’t expect us to have that problem. But I did expect us to make some mistakes. That’s normal.”
Hamilton freshmen shine in opening win
Many teams across the state played their season-opening games Tuesday, including The Republic‘s No. 3-ranked Chandler Hamilton Huskies versus No. 9 Gilbert Perry Pumas. Hamilton came away with a 75-53 win on the Pumas’ home court as both teams adhered to
new health and safety protocols established by the AIA.
Despite the lopsided game in Hamilton’s favor, the common denominator between both teams was major adjustment to playing while wearing masks during the game. Masks are an AIA requirement for all winter sports participants, coaches or other school officials at a game, as well as parents or guardians, of which two per player is allowed. No additional spectators are allowed in games.
“It’s been tough and that’s kind of where we were talking over the past 10 days. Just trying to do conditioning, get the mental toughness that ‘Hey, we have to play with this,’” Hamilton head coach Trevor Neider said. “The girls have had a really good attitude about it. We said it is what it is, there’s not much you can do about it. We can complain or just be happy with playing basketball with a mask on and go with it.
“They know it’s tough and we talk about communication and that aspect of it, but just find a new way to communicate on the court and do things the right way. They’ve kind of attacked the challenge.”
Hamilton, last season’s 6A conference state championship runner-up, dominated Perry from the tip-off. The game’s biggest surprise was Hamilton’s freshmen Savanna Creal, who had a game-high 18 points, and Breanna Sommers, who added 10.
“I didn’t think they were going to do that much tonight,” Neider said. “They’ve got that potential. They’re a great group and they’re basketball kids and they love playing and they’ve been kind of a sponge every day in practice. Our seniors Amyah (Reaves) and Graci (Roybal) have done a great job showing them, ‘Hey, do this, read this, look at this,’ and they’re taking it in. You saw a glimpse of the potential they have.”
“Being at Hamilton, they really ingrained the team effort is what needs to happen,” Creal said. “To me, it wasn’t about how many points I scored it was just about hustle and getting a dub for the team.”
Perry isn’t necessarily in rebuilding mode, but it is in a transition after losing five of its best players. Top returning senior players are center Gabrielle Schwartz, shooting guard Nicole Smith and point guard Tianna McKinley. Juniors guards Kira Patel and Leah Davis and sophomores Khamil Pierre are also part of the team’s new core.
“I think we have a great coaching staff and I think they’ve going to help me get to my best,” said Pierre, who led Perry with 12 points.
“It was our first game back and I think, yeah we lost, but it’s a learning experience and it’s a brand new team. We lost a lot of people but we’re all going to come together and figure it out.”