Basketball season is off to a crushing start at Sedona Red Rock High School.
The Scorpions boys team hung 70 on Anthem Preparatory Academy in a 37-point road blowout. The girls also dominated, winning 55-26 in head coach Dave Moncibaez’s Scorpions debut at Anthem Prep.
Sophomore Sebastian Morales, a transfer from Mexico, is making an early statement from the perimeter heading into the Red Rock Classic, the Scorpions’ 16-team home basketball tournament, which begins Thursday, Dec. 3, at 11:30 a.m.
“He’s the strongest kid that we have in terms of ballhanding, shooting ability and all of that together,” said boys head coach C.J. Sells. “We really don’t have a center. We’re not going to be pounding the ball inside against anybody.”
Tall forwards have also been hard to come by early on for Sells, who is learning to win without his tallest players — junior forward Dawson Stevenson and sophomore forward Walker Cox.
That will be a challenge if the Scorpions advance to play Coconino High School and its 6-foot, 10-inch front line on the classic’s final day Saturday, Dec. 5.
But it is a 6-foot, 1-inch Blue Ridge High School senior guard who will present the first challenge to Sells against his second opponent in the tournament.
“Mckay Berges is as good as there is in the state, and a small-school kid,” Sells said. “Blue Ridge will be very good.
“I think Thatcher wins the state championship. Snowflake is the defending state champ from last year, returning three starters. Cactus, from the Valley, they’re big and very good.”
While those high schools will present the toughest challenge to the Red Rock Classic championship, they will also be formidable opponents for Moncibaez in the Sedona Hoops Classic, beginning Thursday, Dec. 10, at 10 a.m.
Many Farms, Payson, Round Valley and St. Johns will also apply pressure to senior Annie Parrella and junior Liza Westervelt along the perimeter. If they can get the ball down low to juniors Hannah Ringel and Sophia Perry, though, the Scorpions should be able to go to work on the other 15 teams in the field.
For both holiday hoops tournament schedules, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 3, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.
