Certainly the bulk of Tuesday's crowd at Basha High were expecting a tight, if not riveting contest with #2 Brophy Prep. Occasionally it doesn't work out.

Brophy jumped to an 8-0 lead in the first two-and-a-half minutes setting the tone for a 60-34 romp by the Broncos over #6 Basha in a 6A Premier Region game. When the teams met 18 days ago, Brophy prevailed, 59-51. That's the only non-double-digit win for the Broncos in region play.

The victory kept Brophy in control of first place in the region. Brophy is 17-2 overall and 5-0 in region with three region games remaining. Basha could have tightened the region chase with a win, but instead finds itself 16-5, 2-3. The only team that can threaten Brophy's bid for the the region crown is Perry (3-1 region), which did not play on Tuesday. Perry's next two games are Thursday at home vs. Basha and next Tuesday at home vs. Brophy.

A dominant offensive performance by Brophy swingman Arman Madi was one key to victory. Madi collected a game-high 21 points. The 6-foot-7-inch junior made 9 of 12 shots (6-8 2s and 3-4 3s). All three 3s were made in the third quarter.

Brophy's defense was outstanding from start to finish. The Broncos limited Basha to 4 of 22 shooting (18 percent) from the field in the first half, including 1 of 7 from three-point range. They outscored Basha in every quarter taking a 16-8 lead after one quarter, 29-13 at halftime and 49-24 after three periods.

Two more Brophy players reached double figures in scoring and nearly one more - sophomore Braeden Speed (12), senior Miles Nash (10) and senior Patrick Chew (9). Leading scorers for Basha were junior Torin Bosch (13 points) and sophomore Christin Warren (10).

Basha's Mason Blankenship (3) defends Brophy's Arman Madi in the first half. (Azpreps365 photo)