Sedona’s undefeated season continues as the Red Rock Junior High girls earned a one-seed spot going into the Arizona State Small Schools Basketball Tournament next weekend in Clarkdale.

“I told the girls that win or lose, the fairytale ends this week,” Sedona coach Kirk Westervelt said. “Hopefully, we can finish on a good note but unfortunately only one team is undefeated in the end.”

The Scorpions will put their perfect 24-0 record on the line when Sedona plays Dilcon Community School on Thursday, Feb. 7.

“Even if the girls get put out, they have been phenomenalt o coach this season,” Westervelt said.

The Scorpions came out firing in the opening round of postseason play and defeated Dr. Daniel Bright School
40-2 on Thursday, Jan. 31.

Helen Westervelt led the Scorpions with 13 points and three steals while Mayra Parra contributed 11 points and four steals.

Leah Pederson found her teammates for five assists while racking up three steals and Macy Valdez recorded six rebounds.

On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Scorpions defeated Clarkdale Middle School 39-14 in the semifinal round.

Parra led Sedona with 14 points while Westervelt added 11 points and three assists.

In the championship round, Sedona narrowly escaped Middle Valley Preparatory by a margin of 43-34 later on Saturday, Feb. 2.

“It was one hell of a game but Cinderella is still at the ball,” Westervelt said. “They led the whole game but we outscored them 10-0 to come through in crunchtime.”

The Scorpions improved to 24-0 with the win.

“They are our nemesis after winning the league championship last year but we got them four straight times this year,” Westervelt said. “The final score was a little misleading, however, as MVP led for the majority of the game.”

Helen led all scorers with 18 points and five rebounds while Parra added 14 points.

“Hats off to MVP as they were playing their tails off in the regional championship,” Westervelt said. “It was a heavyweight slugfest with each team countering punches with jabs of their own.”

“Some of our girls struggled with foul trouble but we showed our heart against MVP,” Westervelt said.

Sedona’s last loss came in the state championship, with Dilcon winning 33-31 on Feb. 10, 2018.

With the Clarkdale-Jerome Rams winning on the boys side, it is the first time the Verde Valley has had a boys and girls team earning a one-seed.

“You cannot complain when you are undefeated but we had not allowed over 20 points until MVP,” Westervelt said. “They hit about five 3-pointers, so we just had to weather the storm when MVP got hot.”

Westervelt said he believes the Scorpions’ defensive discipline is key to them winning the title.

“Staying in our lines and staying focused on defense is critical,” Westervelt said. “MVP was able to capitalize
when we started ball watching instead of paying attention.”

Offensively, the Scorpions have been meshing well as of late.

“I would love for a team to play us man-to-man because they cannot cover us,” Westervelt said. “We have three great guards that I would put against anyone in the tourney.”

Opponents have not had an answer on defense for Sedona’s dominant duo of Parra and Westervelt.

“We do not beat MVP without those two as they combined for 14 points in the fourth quarter,” Westervelt said. “The problem is Helen gets double-teamed most of the time or teams are aware of what she is going to do.”

When MVP doubled-up Westervelt, Parra’s sharpshooting made the defense pay.

“I told Helen it is fine to kick it out as long as we are hitting our shots and Parra came through for us,” Westervelt said.

The state tournament begins on Thursday, Feb. 7, and goes through Saturday, Feb. 9.

“If we can stay disciplined,I think we can hang with anybody in the tournament,”
Westervelt said.
Tipoff is slated for 11:30 a.m.
The winner faces the victor of the Little Singer and Mingus match.