Two Sedona Red Rock High School teams entered State; one team is still alive.
All the No. 15 seed Scorpions boys [17-13] could do in the first round of the Division IV state basketball tournament Friday, Feb. 19, was cut in half the margin of their Jan. 14 home loss to the Dust Devils.
“If you had told me that at the beginning of the season, I would’ve taken it,” head coach C.J. Sells said. “To be honest, when we sat down and looked at this whole team this year, we were not sure we thought we could make the state playoffs. I would’ve just been satisfied to squeak in as a [No.] 22 or 23 seed.”
Still, allowing even four points less than the 47 junior guard David Larrabee scored would have made the difference in a 67-64 loss at the Prescott Valley Events Center.
“We couldn’t guard him,” Sells said. “We tried, but he was just too good.”
Missing 12 out of 31 free throws and two three-point shots with less than 13 seconds to play did not help.
“We had our chances,” Sells said. “[We] couldn’t get one to fall.”
Junior Dawson Stevenson was the leading SRRHS scorer with 21 points. With just two other varsity lettermen available, and freshman guard Chase Saczalski out with an injured foot, Sells was proud of his team’s effort and has high expectations for next season.
“We might be a year ahead of schedule from where we thought we’d be,” Sells said. “That’s a credit to the boys and all their hard work.”
The next night, in the second round, head coach Dave Moncibaez’s girls faced a familiar second half against River Valley, down by six at halftime.
“[The] girls started out sluggish in the first half,” he said, “almost mirroring the last time we played them.”
But sophomore guard Liza Westervelt’s 25 points fueled an 18-5 second-half run to take control. Westervelt had as many three-pointers as she had two-point field goals and SRRHS [26-6] went on to win, 68-56.
“The girls played with more energy the second half and played their game,” Moncibaez said. “That was the difference.
Senior Annie Parrella and junior Sophia Perry each added 18 for the Scorpions, who advanced to the Division IV quarterfinals against No. 3 seed Gilbert Christian High School.
“I’m very proud,” Moncibaez said. “But we, as a team, are still not satisfied.”
The game begins at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25, at Yavapai College.
The winner earns a berth in the state semifinals at 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, in the Prescott Valley Events Center.
Winners of the semifinals will play for the Division IV championship Saturday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m.
For more photos, please see the Wednesday, Feb. 24, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.
