Peat powers Perry against Sunnyslope to take Open title
Phoenix Sunnyslope had to figure a way to contend with Perry’s two big 5star recruits. Who do you try to stop? Cody Williams or Koa Peat?
On a Saturday night when both 6foot-8 players showed why they’re considered one of the greatest tandems to ever step foot on an Arizona high school basketball court, they led Perry to a devastatingly dominating 74-58 victory for the AIA’s first Open Division boys state championship at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
It started with 32 teams but there was really never a doubt it would be Perry the last team standing, holding the gold ball.
Starters who had sat out the last few minutes raced to seldom-played Isaac Astorga on the court after it was over, dancing under the basket, knowing how historic this was, showing how much they cared about everyone, from the 5-stars to the 12th man.
“It feels really good, it never gets old,” said coach Sam Duane Jr., who now appears in the midst of building a second dynasty at a second school, after leading Tempe Corona del Sol to four consecutive 6A championships from 2011-15.
Perry won a second consecutive state title after having never won a championship before.
It started last year with Peat and Williams and, as they grew even more powerful this year, it was invevitable from the start of the season that they would dominate, especially after blowing through Hoophall West with routs of Cardinal Hayes from the Bronx and San Ysidro from California. The Pumas came into the week ranked No. 15 nationally by MaxPreps.
Peat, a sophomore, had 35 points Saturday on 13 of 18 shooting, making 9 of 12 free throws. He also blocked four shots, had two steals and six rebounds. Each blocked shot was more punishing than the last. His defense has always been his greatest strength. But this season his offense was on full display, shining the brightest on the biggest stage.
Peat took advantage of a big size advantage over 6-4 freshman Rider Portela, who had 21 points, but had the difficult task of trying to contain Peat. The biggest players couldn’t do that this season.
“It was how they were guarding me,” Peat said. “They were face-guarding Cody. If they double-team Cody, I go to work. If they double-team me, then he goes to work. And we’ve got shooters around.”
Perry made only three 3-pointers, but two of those came from backup guard No No Brown. D’Andre Harrison had the other.
Williams, who will play in a couple of All-American games before heading to Colorado to start his college career, was face-guarded by 6-6 junior Jai Anthoni Bearden. No problem. Set screens. Play tough defense. Williams was willing to sacrifice on offense to win.
He held Sunnsylope’s leading scorer John Mattingly, a 6-foot freshman, scoreless until the final minute of the third quarter.
Mattingly finished with nine points on 3 of 12 shooting, and hit only 1 of 5 3-pointers.
“This is why Cody is so special,” Duane said. “He stayed patient. He created for other guys. And he shut down Mattingly, who didn’t score in the first half. Cody said, ‘Coach, I’ll be a screener.’ That’s what separates him. I love that kid.”
Duane’s last Corona del Sol team in 2014-15 that went 33-1 and featured Alex Barcello and 6-11 freshman Marvin Bagley III ended the season with a 57-32 rout of a Phoenix Desert Vista team that was led by Brandon Clarke, now an NBA player. That team finished ranked No. 8 nationally by MaxPreps. It was as dominant a team Arizona has seen.
But this one is close.
“It’s right there,” Duane said. “There’s two pros (Williams and Peat) right there.”
Duane doesn’t like to compare any of his teams, but this one was very special in how unselfish everybody was to get the job done for the sake of the team.
Perry finished 30-1, the one blip a two-point, early January-loss to Pinnacle, erased in a second-round 53-point rout.
“I never compare them but this is a damn good team,” Duane said. “A very good team. And they’re really unselfish.”
Winning it all last year was great, but this year was even more special to Williams, who had 15 points on an efficient 5 of 9 shooting, and added three assists and a blocked shot.
“It’s even better in the Open Division,” Williams said. “It was nice to see all these little brackets that had us losing and we ended up blowing out everybody.”
The Pumas beat Cienega by 24, Pinnacle by 53, Liberty by 19, Desert Mountain by 14, and Sunnyslope by 16 on their way to the gold ball.
Perry could turn it on any time and put teams away.
This time, it ran through Sunnyslope with a 20-8 second quarter that put the 10th-seeded Vikings (25-6) in a 36-18 disadvantage at the half.
“It started with our defense and getting out in transition and we moved the ball really well,” Duane said. “When we get movement like that, we’re hard to stop.”