From Camp Verde to Clarkdale, Chase Saczalski has earned the respect — and the attention — of boys basketball coaches across the Verde Valley League.

“He is a leader in the classroom and on the court,” said his head coach at Big Park Community School, Andy Galley.

“For a long time, I have not seen a shooter like him,” said Donnie Shanks, head coach for Camp Verde Middle School, after Saczalski had 22 points — 16 in the first half — on the way to a 39-26 road win over the Cowboys. “We started with a box-and-one [defense] automatically on him, but we weren’t transitioning well: He was able to make the pass down low. It all ran through him.”

“We focused on Big Park’s main guy and shut him down,” said Rudy Sandoval, Clarkdale-Jerome School head coach, after handing the Coyotes [9-1] their only loss Dec. 11. “They were beating us 7-0 before we figured out what to do.”

The Coyotes’ point guard has faced double teams, triple teams and even a box-and-one defense. Outside of the defense and size of Sandoval’s A team, no opponent has been able to stop the eighth-grader with a 4.0 GPA.

“Everybody knows what I can do,” Saczalski said. “So they try to keep the ball out of my hands and get the ball away from me so I can’t score.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 31, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.