Arizona Boys Basketball Playoffs: Mountain View Dominates On Way To 5A Division I State Championship

Mountain View has hung its hat on defensive pressure since the Mesa, Ariz., team began its run in Arizona’s 5A Division I high school basketball tournament, but no one could have expected that they would be able to stifle Brophy Prep, their championship game competition and a team that just scored 96 points in the semifinal game against Mesa on Friday night.

That’s exactly what happened, however, as Mountain View was seventh state championship with a 50-29 victory over Brophy on Saturday night at Jobing.com Arena.

Fairfax High School is in just its fourth year of existence, but that didn’t hurt its boy’s basketball team as they were able to hold off Chaparral in double overtime to win the Class 5A Division II championship by a score of 65-60.

Fairfax (23-7), playing its first season with seniors, was led by senior Pierre Newton as the 6-foot-5 forward scored 26 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished eight assists while hitting numerous free-throws to keep Fairfax ahead down the stretch.

In response to games running long last week, the Arizona Interscholastic Association has changed the start times for four Class 5A title games on Friday at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

The boys finals will be 3 p.m. (5A Division II) and 8 p.m. (5A-I). The girls finals will be 12:30 a.m. (5A-II) and 5:30 (5A-I).

The Holbrook boys basketball team hadn’t won a state championship since 1971, and when the team trailed by 15 points with less than seven minutes left in Saturday night’s Arizona Class 3A championship game, it didn’t look like 2011 would be the year the drought ended.

Finishing the game with full-court pressure that led to a 24-3 run, Holbrook defeated a much taller Fountain Hills team 49-43 at the Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

Nogales wasn’t expected to be a factor in the Arizona high school championship picture after being matched up with top-seeded Raymond Kellis in the semifinals, but after defeating Saguaro of Scottsdale 57-44 in the finals Saturday evening, the school has won its first state title since 1983.

“It’s unreal how excited these people are,” Nogales coach Ricardo De La Riva told the Arizona Republic. “It’s lifted everybody in the community. Our administrators were so supportive. Lastly, I want to thank God for keeping me here and winning a state championship.”

A state runner-up in 2010, Amphitheater of Tucson broke through and won a championship Saturday, beating Tempe 87-77 in Arizona’s Class 4A Division II final at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale.

“It was worth it. It was a long wait waiting for this day, but it was worth it,” Amphitheater head coach Ben Hurley said. “The kids were excited, but I’m glad it’s over and that we have the championship trophy.”

The Orme School, typically known as one of the top academic schools in the United States, might have competition from its athletic department after Saturday’s 68-56 championship game victory over Gilbert Christian High School.

Despite the fact that Orme beat Gilbert Christian, the defending 1A champions, their coach doesn’t think that his team will be defending their title next season.

Westwind Prep won the Arizona 2A state championship, the first in school history, by defeating Thatcher High School 82-63 with forward Demarquise Johnson leading the way.

“My goal was just to win at the end, and that is what we did,” Johnson told the Arizona Republic after the game. “Last year we were in the locker room, and everyone was mad and upset. This feels great.”