Open quarterfinals breakdown
There are eight teams left after the first two rounds of the 32-team Open Division boys basketball state tournament. Four from 6A, three from 5A and one from 4A. There are five double-digit seeds left. It's do or die now. No falling back into conference state tournaments. These teams have had more than a week to prepare for these games.
Who gets to the state semifinals?
The Republic breaks down Saturday's state quarterfinals that start at 7 p.m., at the higher-seeded teams' courts, and predicts who moves into the semifinals.
Open quarterfinals
No. 8 Peoria Liberty (22-6) at No. 1 Gilbert Perry (27-1)
This has a semifinal, if not a state championship, vibe to it. They were considered the top two teams in the state entering the season. And they've lived up to it, for the most part. Perry's powerful performance in the 87-34 rout of Pinnacle — the only team to beat Pinnacle (65-63) in early January — sent a message. But can Koa Peat and Cody Williams continue that kind of onslaught against a team that will put up a big fight and has one of the state's top interior defenders in 6-foot-8 Ring Nyeri? Liberty can fill it up. The Lions scored 91 points last week in an eight-point win over Goodyear Millennium. Perry defends at a high level with the 6-8 Peat and Williams and Ben Egbo imposing their will. Liberty will have to make 3-point shots, and not get beat in transition. And it can't let Williams and Peat go coast to coast for easy baskets. Perry eventually wore on Liberty in an early-season meeting, pulling away late for a 98-79 victory. Expect another high-scoring game.
Prediction: Perry 90, Liberty 83
No. 13 Scottsdale Desert Mountain (24-4) at No. 5 Glendale Ironwood (23-5)
Maybe the most intriguing and exciting game. They're both 5A teams. Desert
Mountain will see how far it can ride the freshman, Kaden and Kalek House, against a well-disciplined, defensiveminded Ironwood team that has the depth and talent and athleticism to counteract anything the Wolves throw at them. Ironwood knows that Kaden House likes to get to the line and will try to make it tough to defend him with explosive moves to the basket and the ability to pull up for 3s. Julius Williams will need to play big in the paint for Ironwood and the guards are going to have to get after it defensively and not let the House brothers burn them on the break.
Prediction: Ironwood 71, Desert
Mountain 70
No. 14 Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep (23-5) at No. 11 Chandler Basha (24-4)
Two exceptional programs run by top-notch coaches — Basha's Mike Grothaus and Notre Dame's Luke DallaRiva. NDP beat Brophy Prep, which won two out of three meetings with Basha but lost to the Bears in the second round of the Open. Grothaus has his young Bears peaking after getting through a tough regular season that included two games
against Perry. They're ready, behind freshman point guard Mason Magee and freshman forward Elijah Summers-Livingston. Christian Warren and Torin Bosch are impactful on both ends of the court. They'll have to be leery of three big scorers in Anthony Batson Jr., Brennan Peterson and Bryce Quinet. This should be another close game.
Basha 63, Notre Dame 60
Prediction:
No. 18 Phoenix St. Mary's (16-10) at No. 10 Tucson Sunnylope (23-5)
This a tossup. There's no clear favorite here. And just when you thought Sunnyslope might not come of age in coach Ray Portela's youngest team (four freshmen play significant minutes), here come the Vikings locking it down defensively the second half of the season and looking like a championship contender. But St. Mary's gauntlet national schedule and getting 6-7 sophomore Caspian Jones back on the court before the playoffs to complement high-scoring, explosive junior point guard Styles Phipps has the Knights on a good track right now.
St. Mary's 68, Sunnyslope
65