Scottsdale Christian rolls
SCA relocates, takes 2A semi over Thatcher
Top-seeded Scottsdale Christian beat No. 4 seed Thatcher, 62-46, in the 2A boys semifinal on Friday at Phoenix Greenway.
Playing more than 78 miles away from where the game was supposed to be played, Scottsdale Christian (24-5) never trailed Thatcher (22-8) from that opening tip.
Scottsdale Christian junior shooting guard Jordan Moody led all scorers with 24 points.
But the game’s dominant storyline was off the court and literally on the road.
This weekend’s rare blizzard conditions in Prescott Valley caused the Arizona Interscholastic Association into a rescheduling frenzy for its 1A and 2A boys and girls basketball semifinals Saturday at Findlay Toyota Center.
One of the games that the AIA decided to postpone, resume and ultimately relocate all within four hours on Friday morning was Thatcher -- who stayed overnight nearby in Phoenix -- against Scottsdale Christian 2A boys semifinal at Phoenix Greenway later that afternoon at 3:30 p.m..
“We were shocked but we were ready to see whatever was going to happen,” Moody said. “We just stayed locked in once we figured out that we had a game at 3 p.m. Around 11 o’clock we just told ourselves ‘let’s do this, let’s play today.’ We wanted to play today anyway.”
Scottsdale Christian’s Bob Frederick is the head coach for the school’s boys and girls teams.
He was required to drive from Phoenix to Prescott Valley immediately after the boys semifinal to coach the SCA girls for their semifinal matchup against St. Johns at 7:30 p.m.
“Something close in a regional championship in 2005, we started the game at Phoenix College, the gym leaked in a pouring rain storm during another El Nino year and we moved the game in the middle of the game to (Phoenix) Washington High School,” Fredericks said.
“So, yeah, I’ve been through it before. In 34 years, you see it all.”
Thatcher didn’t score their first basket until the 3:23 minute mark in the first quarter, as Scottsdale Christian jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Thatcher went on a 9-4 run, but Scottsdale Christian extended the lead on stellar shooting from senior forward Ethan Spry and senior point guard Reed Myers.
Spry finished with 10 points and 6 rebounds and Reed contributed 13 points. The halftime score was 30-24. “We came out and ran sets beautifully at the beginning,” Fredericks said.
“We thought we had defensive breakdowns in the second quarter. We gave up 10 or so points on direct line drives to the basket, that’s not like us. We gotta fix that.”
“We didn’t rebound in the first quarter,” Thatcher head coach Chris Riehemann said at halftime.
“Second quarter, we finally did rebound the ball and we started attacking the goal a little bit and we made a couple shots. That kind of opened up things up on our dribble penetration.”
Riehemann said that he hoped that Eagles seniors Rulon White and Kason Crosby would lead them to a comeback. Crosby and White had a quiet first half performance with 2 and 4 points, but finished with team-high 15 points and 8, respectively.
But Scottsdale Christian began to pull away in the fourth quarter with six minutes left, as Thatcher looked to foul to get them in the bonus.
“Our team defense kind of lacked in the second quarter, but we just got back on top of it and just attacked, got good transition points on offense,” Moody said.
“I just told myself to attack the whole game, not settling for shots or for 3-point shots, but being a complete player, taking what the defense gives me,” Moody said.
“I thought we played a really good game as a whole.
It’s easy to consider for Fredericks that two wins in one day in these circumstances would be one of the highlights of his career.
“Our girls are ready, they’ve rehearsed everything,” Fredericks said.
“Our assistant coach is with them. They’ve talked to them and eased them before the game. Once the game starts, it’s kind of mostly up to the kids, coach’s job is mostly done.