Breaking down boys 6A, 5A semis, 4A final
The 6A and 5A boys basketball semifinals are Wednesday night at the higher seed sites. The 4A boys basketball championship game is Thursday at 8 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Republic breaks down the games and predicts the winners.
6A semifinals
No. 5 Mesa Mountain View (19-11) at No. 1 Gilbert Highland (27-3), 7 p.m.
This is a second chance to find postseason Nirvana for both teams after getting bumped from the Open. Mountain View gained revenge from its firstround Open loss to Pinnacle by beating the Pioneers in the 6A quarterfinals. Highland fell to Desert Mountain in the Open second round. Now it’s rolling again, thanks to the dynamic guard duo of Noah Peterson and Brock Knollmiller. Highland coach Todd Fazio has won a title before when he was leading Desert Mountain. He’ll press all the right buttons to make it hard for Mountain’s Big 2 of Brigg Wolfe and Nate Bogle. Big man Jackson Bowers, who signed with BYU to play football as a tight end, will need to have a big game on the boards for the Toros to have a chance. I just think Highland at home and with its best team since Fazio has been there will be too much for Mountain View to overcome, but first-year coach Andy Johnson will have his team more than ready for the moment.
Prediction: Highland 63, Mountain View 59
No. 3 Anthem Boulder Creek (20-8) at No. 2 Phoenix Brophy Prep (23-8), 7 p.m.
Boulder Creek has been without star point guard Rowan McKenzie for the second half of the season for the most part due to an injury, so it’s incredible the Jaguars have made it this far. Brophy Prep relies on its big two of 6-6 wing Arman Madi and guard Braeden Speed, but they’ve had help from a young team that has had to grow up this season, especially after losing guard Connor Fitzgerald to a season-ending injury in the opener. Speed has had an incredible season. His defense turns into offense and he’ll be able to handle any pressure that Boulder Creek will apply.
Prediction: Brophy 59, Boulder Creek 53
5A semifinals
No. 5 Peoria Centennial (18-10) at No. 1 Gilbert Campo Verde (26-4), 7 p.m.
Could there be an all-Peoria district final? It’s possible. But, for Centennial’s part, it will have to duplicate the performance it had in the 71-70 quarterfinal win at Canyon View, where Zander Kamai came through with the game-winning basket with 3.9 seconds left. Kamai, freshman Johnny Rios III, Gage Galbreath and Emery Young have what it takes to get Centennial into the championship game under its first-year coach David Grace. Grace won a state title in 2005 at Phoenix South Mountain. He’s up for the task, and he’s got guys who have been through a championship game in Young and Galbreath. Campo Verde is a talented, well-coached team under Mark Martinez with a player, Isaiah Kai, who could go off. But I’ll go with the Coyotes in an upset with another heart-stopping finish.
Prediction: Centennial 68, Campo Verde 67
No. 11 Peoria Sunrise Mountain (1711) at No. 2 Goodyear Millennium (26-4), 7 p.m.
Sunrise Mountain made a big statement in a 79-60 quarterfinal rout of North Canyon. Can the Mustangs bottle that performance for a team as hungry and talented as Millennium? In their only meeting in November, Millennium won 78-66. Sunrise Mountain has an impact player in 6-6 senior Carter Gittens. Can Millennium 6-6 freshman Cameron Holmes neutralize him? He may not be guarding him much to avoid foul trouble. The Tigers are going to need Holmes’ offense in this. Expect a great game but the Tigers have been on a mission since losing to Liberty in the second round of the Open to fall into the 5A tournament. They’re not going to let this second chance slip away.
Prediction: Millennium 72, Sunrise Mountain 68
4A final
No. 8 Glendale Deer Valley (21-7) vs. No. 2 Peoria (26-4), Thursday, at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 8 p.m.
Will the third try work like magic for Deer Valley and coach Jed Dunn? He’s gotten two previous Deer Valley teams to the finals, coming away with losses. He’s lost twice this year to Peoria. Dunn knows how to change things up on the fly and he’ll figure out any motivational tool to get his guys to attack the Panthers and their talented players in a way that could create turnovers and explosive plays to the basket. But this might be even better than the Peoria team that Patrick Battillo had in 2020 when he took over the team mid-season as interim coach and had a freshman guard named Andrew Camacho. This is Camacho’s time. He still feels the sting of losing that overtime thriller to Salpointe Catholic in the final game as a freshman. He’s not going to let that feeling happen again. And he’s got help with Caden Bass and Calvin Windley to keep the die-hard Skyhawks from keying on him.
Prediction: Peoria 69, Deer Valley 67