Winning Central High's first title in 68 years was deeply rewarding last year for 22-year coach Darren Bustos.

As he celebrated another championship at Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Bustos focused on honoring his players. 

“The first one, I had tears in my eyes,” said Bustos after his team defended its 5A title with a 62-53 victory over Mountain Pointe Friday night. "This one, it’s all about the kids and the way they represented Central the last two years. They’ve done a really good job. They make you look like a good coach.”

Bustos sent his close-knit seniors out as champs.

Three of those seniors, John Fahrendorf, John Mattingly and Dominic Rojas, each scored in double figures. The other player to do so was Mattingly’s brother, Grant, a sophomore.

Mattingly went home with MVP honors after totaling a game-high 24 points. 

“I just hope people remember me as a good teammate who played the game the right way,” Mattingly said.

The team's leading scorer played the entire 32 minutes, but was ready. 

He worked extremely hard during the offseason to prepare his body for this season's demands, Bustos said. Mattingly and Rojas have shared a connection since childhood, beginning with their time playing basketball at the Phoenix YMCA during the second grade. 

They transferred in from Sunnylope, where legendary coach Dan Mannix nicknamed the 5-9 Rojas the Dominator.  

"This means everything to me,” said Rojas, who scored 13 points and made three of his five threes. “In my last high school game, I got to play alongside the guy I’ve played with forever.”

John Mattingly (No. 35 with MVP plaque), his good friend Dominic Rojas (lifting the trophy) and teammate celebrated for the second year in a row at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)Just like last year’s 5A title tilt against the same team, Central jumped out to a double digit first half lead. 

Rojas had one of the highlight reel plays in the game when he stole the ball and buckled the knees of a player after a hesitation move to the basket late in the second quarter. Rojas finished it off with a layup, giving his squad a 29-19 lead. 

Mountain Pointe, trailing 36-21 near the start of the third quarter after a Fahrendorf three, called a timeout at that point. The 6-4 Fahrendorf had an excellent postseason, shooting over 50 percent during his final games, including during a 39-point outing.  

Twelve of his family members were sitting in the front row to watch his final high school game. Mountain Pointe, which started four sophomores and a senior, was led by Marcus Isaac’s 20 points and Jayvein Moody (14 points). 

Mountain Pointe will return plenty of firepower to make another run at the title next year. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)The 6-8 Isaac also finished with a game-high 15 rebounds, helping his team outscore Central 32-14 in the paint. Trailing by as many as 21 points in the third quarter, Mountain Pointe (21-8) made it interesting in the end. 

An Isaac three left the Pride trailing 58-51 with under a minute left. But Central went on to close it out despite using just six players in the game. 

The team capped its championship campaign with a school record 31 victories.