If there was any concern that a long layoff caused by postponed games would negatively affect the basketball teams at Sedona Red Rock High School, both quickly put those fears to rest on Tuesday, Feb. 2, when they traveled to take on Northland Prep Academy.
Both teams controlled the action from the start and posted decisive wins.
The first Scorpions team to take the floor was the girls. It was only the second game of their season and the first since they defeated Scottsdale Christian on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Despite the layoff and the fact that starter Helen Westervelt was out, the SRRHS girls had a game that coach Kirk Westervelt identified as maybe the best team game they’ve played since he became the coach. It showed in the final score, as the Scorpions demolished the Spartans, 92-14.
“I think we did really good,” said sophomore guard Mayra Parra-Landaverde, who started in Westervelt’s place. “We communicated and worked as a team. We didn’t keep the ball to ourselves. We passed it down the floor and scored.”
Given that high school games are only 32 minutes and Arizona does not use a shot clock for high school basketball, plenty of high school games don’t feature 92 combined points. The Scorpions, though, reached 92 on their own, despite not only being without one of their top players, but also not having any of the active players hit 20 points. Every starter, however, had 15 points or more.
Junior guard Nyah Valdez led the way with 19, which included a trio of three-pointers. Freshman center Rachel Roderick scored 18, Parra-Landaverde and junior forward Stephanie Medel each scored 17, while sophomore guard Annabelle Cook had 15. Coming off of the bench, sophomore forward Annalee Dearden had three while senior forward Lesly Suarez and sophomore guard Leah Pedersen rounded out the scoring with two each.
After an extended layoff, the Scorpions were thrilled to get back onto the court.
“It felt so good,” Valdez said. “I feel like we’ve just been practicing so hard these past two weeks. We finally had a game that we were so amped up and ready for and I think it showed out on the court.”
The boys took the court next and while they didn’t post a near 80-point victory, their victory was plenty decisive, winning 76-59.
Sedona started strong, opening up a 14-4 lead. The Spartans closed the gap by the end of the quarter, with the Scorpions leading 17-9. The game remained close for a part of the second quarter, but senior guard Jaiah Grondin got hot for SRRHS, going on a run of three-pointers to open up the lead. While coach Pedro Ortega Sr. acknowledged that the Scorpions got a little sloppy in the later portion of the game, their lead was big enough to withstand that by that point.
“NPA is the team that we really want to beat,” Grondin said. “They’re kind of our rivals now. Coming off of a loss to them in the last game last year, we wanted to come out with a win. And we did.”
Unlike the girls, the boys had a clear leader in scoring. Grondin was easily his team’s top scorer, finishing the game with 30 points. He made 61% of his shots overall and 50% [6-for-12] of his three pointers. Senior forward Joey Johnson was next, scoring 11 points while junior forward Alberto Sanchez had 10.
Grondin also led the team with four steals and his six assists tied him for the team lead with fellow senior guard Jamie Alagna. Sedona was also strong on the glass. Sanchez had six rebounds while Alagna and junior forward Ian Thurston each had six. No Scorpions player was better on the boards, though, than Dorian Stevens. The junior center hauled in 16 rebounds and narrowly missed a double-double, scoring nine points.
While the layoff wasn’t quite as long as the girls, the game against Northland Prep was the boys team’s first game since a win on Jan. 22 over North Pointe Prep. They were similarly happy to be back on the floor in a setting other than a varsity vs. junior varsity scrimmage.
“After those two weeks of just scrimmaging, it felt great,” Stevens said. “We were just scrimmaging each other. It didn’t feel right because both of our games got canceled. It really felt good to finally have a game and play someone new for once.”
The win over Northland Prep moved the SRRHS girls to 2-0 on the season while the boys are now 2-1. Both teams traveled to take on Cicero Prep on Thursday, Feb. 4. The Scorpion girls won their game with another blowout, 79-21, moving to 3-0. The boys, meanwhile, lost 70-45 to fall to 2-2.
After extended absences, both teams will be jumping into a very busy portion of the schedule next week. They’ll be on the road on Wednesday, Feb. 10, against Chino Valley and then home against Scottsdale Prep on Friday, Feb. 12, and North Pointe Prep on Saturday, Feb. 13. In all three cases, the girls game is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. while the boys are scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
After only two and three games, respectively, both teams feel good about where they stand.
“It’s exciting that we’re 2-0 — we hope to keep it 0,” a chuckling Parra-Landaverde said prior to the Cicero Prep win..
“We get better and better each week, which is amazing,” Grondin said. “We’re playing with a lot of energy and putting up numbers on the board, which is what matters. We’re looking forward to the rest of the season.”
