Chad Vautherine is a master’s student at ASU Cronkite School of Journalism assigned to cover Red Mountain High School for AZPreps365.com

MESA- Red Mountain’s season came to an end on Tuesday as the state’s No. 3-ranked Westwood girls proved their dominance in a 61-30 blowout win on the road. 

Before their final game, Red Mountain coach Anthony Jackson knew his girls would have their hands full with a team like Westwood. He also knew that the night was all about recognizing his seniors in their last high school game. 

“I just told them to make sure that they cherish this moment tonight,” Jackson said. “You don’t want to go into this game and try to score as many points as you can as a senior, but you want to cherish this so you can remember it as you get older.” 

Red Mountain certainly made its seniors feel special with a surprise up their sleeves revealed at the beginning of the game. 

During the first game of the regular season on Nov. 22, Red Mountain lost their senior guard and star player Taylor Johnson. The Chandler-Gilbert Community College commit tore her ACL and was told she would miss the remainder of her last high school season: however, Johnson was shocked when she discovered her name in the starting lineup for Tuesday’s senior night game. 

Jackson and Westwood coach Ron Campton agreed to let Johnson score the first basket of the game to honor her career at Red Mountain. As the game tipped off, Johnson was given the ball, uncontested, and scored the first bucket of the night while hobbling around in her knee brace. She then returned to the bench, ending her prep career. 

“I thought I knew everything that was going on for senior night, but that caught me off guard,” Johnson said.

 

 

After a slow start to this regular-season finale, Westwood unloaded a 14-0 run led by junior Kyra Burrough’s two first-quarter three-pointers and the Warriors' heavy press defense. Red Mountain senior Emmy White, who finished with 17 points, kept the Mountain Lion spirit alive after she tacked on her 500th career point right before halftime. 

With a 28-12 lead at intermission, Westwood opened up the second half with a deleterious 19-2 run, giving Westwood a 27-point lead before the final quarter. Westwood senior captain Nikkianna Kinsel’s 14 points on the night placed her at exactly 1,000 career points after making a floater with just under two minutes left in the game. 

Red Mountain had trouble making a dent in Westwood’s lead throughout the evening. The Warrior’s 61-30 victory was their largest region win of the season. They also clinched their third 6A East Valley title in the last three seasons. 

Campton's Westwood team completed its best regular season in program history. This team is often described as undersized, but he knows just how dangerous they will be heading into the postseason. 

“We’ve got enough with the girls that we’ve got in our program,” Campton said. “We don’t have the girl that’s labeled the D-1 talent or anything, but we’ve got 12 to 15 girls who come in and work their butts off every single day, and that's it.” 

Westwood's 9-1 region record finished one game ahead of Dobson (8-2) in East Valley play. Red Mountain’s record of 2-8 was good enough for fifth place in the region this season. Westwood will begin its playoff run for the state championship on Feb. 16. 

Alongside Johnson and White, Red Mountain seniors Kaitlyn Gishi and Ayejah Rivera were also honored in their last games.