The quarter-final round of the state playoffs was fueled by two huge upsets as the 9^th-seeded Hamilton Huskies (Chandler, AZ) dethroned the reigning 6A state champion, Sunnyslope High (Phoenix, AZ), behind a very impressive performance from 6-foot-5 senior Quincy Adams.  On the same side of the bracket, 12^th-seeded Boulder Creek (Anthem, AZ) took down the heavily favored Mountain Pointe Pride (Phoenix, AZ), who was playing without their star junior backcourt of Tru Washington and Mark Brown.  That led to their Friday night match-up, unexpectedly held at Hamilton High, where Hamilton defeated Boulder Cree, 61-55 to advance to the state championship at Arizona Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.

On the other side of that 6A bracket, 3^rd-seeded Perry High (Gilbert, AZ) dismantled Basha High behind a standout performance from 6-foot-8 freshman forward Koa Peat and the arsenal that Head Coach Sam Duane is aremed with.  The Brophy Broncos (Phoenix, AZ) took care of a really good Pinnacle (Phoenix, AZ) team, though the Pioneers 6-foot-1 junior sharpshooting guard Bryce Ford pulled out the sniper in that game and had them in it for a while.  In the end, Brophy was too much, led by 6-foot-6 junior wing Arman Madi.  

That set up what many probably wished was the 6A state championship game one round early at Brophy High.  Head Coach Matt Hooten and Brophy went into the game sweeping the regular season series, taking care of the loaded Pumas both at home and on the road.  The third and semi-final match-up between the two would be a low-scoring, 3 overtime affair as Perry snuck past Brophy, 49-47.  One hell of a game by two teams that both very much deserved to be there.

That will set up a 6A state championship between the 2^nd-seeded Perry Pumas and the 9^th-seeded Hamilton Huskies.  Perry will go in as heavy favorites, but that’s not a book that Hamilton hasn’t read before.  They have learned to write their own endings.  Like Brophy, Hamilton saw Perry twice this season, losing by 17 on the road, but lost by 2 at home earlier this month.  

The semi-final round of the 5A conference was one of the more competitive rounds of this years playoffs with the 1, 2, 3 and 5 seeds still in contention for what might be the toughest state championship to earn this year.  Centennial High (Peoria, AZ) took a trip down to Tucson, AZ to play the Buena Colts, the top-seeded team in 5A.  They went down their with their business suits on and took care of it while down there, defeating them 77-66 behind a hell of a performance from 6-foot-2 senior guard Jake Lifgren (Point Loma signee).  That set up one of the more exciting match-ups you could possibly ask for as Gilbert High beat a very talented McClintock team behind almost a perfect game from 6-foot-1 junior guard K.J. Perry.  McClintock definitely tested the Tigers from Gilbert but fell short, 76-81, capping off a hell of a season.  

This Gilbert/Centennial match-up is one I am very much looking forward to.  Two of the most effective guards this state has to offer in Centennial’s Lifgren and Gilbert’s Nikko Pentelute.  Centennial’s 6-foot-4 Swiss Army knife Emery Young will be tasked with guarding multiple players from Gilbert that will probably include Perry.  6-foot-3 sophomore forward Gage Galbreath will be assigned to try to limit Gilbert’s 6-foot-7 senior forward Reed Shuey in the paint.  While he does give up 2 years of experience nad about 4 inches in height, the kid really does play so much bigger than he is and just figures out ways to get it done.  Centennial’s 6-foot senior point guard Abraham Rangel and Gilbert’s 6-foot sophomore point guard Isaiah Bronson also pose a very interesting match-up as well.  Tuesday night! Let’s get it on!!!

The 4A semi-final round saw arguably the biggest upset of the 2022 state playoffs, with Mesquite High’s (Gilbert, AZ) 6-foot-1 senior point guard Nathan Calmese getting a steal on the other side of the floor and heaving up almost a ¾ court shot to defeat the heavily favored, 2^nd-seeded St. Mary’s Knights (Phoenix, AZ) in what has become a very controversial ending with multiple angles showing the ball still in Calmese’s hands with the clock on all zeros.  Nevertheless, the shot was called good on the floor and Mesquite has moved on to the state championship armed with possibly the highest scoring backcourt in the state with Calmese and 5-foot-8 junior guard Cohenj Gonzales.  They will square up against one of this state’s most successful programs in the last 5 or so years in Salpointe Catholic (Tucson, AZ), who took care of Deer Valley High in the ‘final four’.  Salpointe’s 6-foot-2 junior guard Canyon Torres is playing as good as anyone in the state and the elite-level coaching Salpointe has on their bench has them the favorites to win their 2^nd state championship in 3 years. However, don’t count you the Mesquite Wildcats too soon, others made that mistake and left the gym in shock with their season over.