Rishi Oza is a student journalist at Arizona State University assigned to cover Coronado High School for AZPreps365.

In their first home game of the season, the Coronado Dons looked to rebound from a rough tournament performance in which they went 0-4. The Saguaro Sabercats had other ideas. Saguaro beat the Dons, 59-40, in a physical and chippy battle on Wednesday night.

The Dons played hard in the first half, showcasing an aggressive brand of defense. They were hard pressing full-court, forcing turnovers, and scoring in the paint, while the Sabercats relied on their speed to create fast-break opportunities and open three-pointers. The first half of this cross-city matchup was well played but sloppy. Both teams were allowed a lot of contact by the officials, so both teams consequently missed a lot of shots in the paint and turned the ball over plenty. 

Coronado took advantage of its size advantage early. Brandon Walker and Brodie Sheridan were dominating on the boards and scoring easy baskets inside. Those two forced the Sabercats to start doubling off the weak side, leaving others open, but Coronado couldn’t capitalize on those open shots the whole game. 

Jeremiah Hinds set the tone early for the Sabercats. His speed posed a serious threat all night for the Dons’ defense as he was pushing the ball up the court every possession, creating easy points for himself and for others. Hinds was the focal point of the offense in the first half and he carried the load on both ends as his pressure on point guard Richard Fragroso caused several turnovers and led to Saguaro pulling away in the second quarter. 

Saguaro had a slight lead after the first half at 28-22, but the third quarter is where it got out of hand for the Dons. Saguaro started playing more aggressively on defense, pressing the whole team full-court instead of just Hinds. The Sabercats opened up an 11-point-lead, but that was just the beginning of the end for Coronado.

The Dons seemed to be rattled by the physicality of the game being allowed by the officials, and that allowed the Sabercats to seize the momentum. They started driving and kicking out to wide-open shooters and got scorching hot from three. Hinds, Mason Birkett, and Anders Mazick all hit huge shots in the second half to extend the lead to a game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. Mazick put on his best Stephen Curry impression, at one point hitting four straight threes, effectively ending the game.

Saguaro also switched to a zone in the second half, which started to pose even more problems for Coronado. They couldn’t get the ball into Walker for easy post touches anymore like they could in the first half and it forced them to shoot contested jumpers, which they woefully misfired on, making only one three in the second half, courtesy of Jalen Patterson. 

Some silver linings for Coronado are that the Dons may have found a gem in Patterson. A junior varsity player who got called up to varsity for Wednesday's game, the 6'2" sophomore provided a spark to keep the game close in the first half. His lightning-quick first step allowed him to break the Sabercats’ press in a way the other guards on the team could not. He also hit a couple of tough jumpers in the second half, creating his own shots when the offense stalled. Look for Patterson to get more call-ups in the coming games as the sophomore starts to get more comfortable. 

Coronado will look to get their first win of the season Friday night when they face Estrella Foothills. Saguaro is going to face Mica Mountain in their second home game of the season as they try to improve to 3-1 on the year.