Corona del Sol High School honored their seniors Friday in their last home game of the season against league opponent Mountain Pointe, but the visitors got the win.

 

The Aztecs fell short 76-48 in Friday night’s matchup.

 

Aztecs \coach Neil MacDonald had nothing but great things to say about his senior players.

 

“Effort is never an issue with these guys. They played really hard. I am always proud of them,” MacDonald said referring to his seniors.

 

MacDonald played an all senior lineup to start the fourth quarter.

 

The team was led by Kobee Marion, the team’s leading scorer who posted 10 points on Friday night. Points didn’t seem to matter to Marion when discussing the game.

 

“We could have played a lot better,” Marion said.  “We had to overcome a lot of adversity. We had to overcome a lot of different personalities.”

 

Marion believes this team has unreal potential for the future.

 

“I feel like these guys next year will come back and play with even more effort and more energy,” Marion said.

 

Regardless of the score, Marion kept his composure throughout the game. He hopes that the younger players will step up and take this team to new heights.

 

Senior leader Melek Alexander appeared grateful to be a part of this team. He scored nine points on Friday.

 

“We really grew as a team. We came a long way from where we were at during the beginning of the season,” Alexander said.

 

Defense seemed to be the key to the Aztecs' success all season. The Aztecs never had the lead in Friday night’s matchup, but pulled within two possessions in the first half.

 

By the end of the first half the Aztecs were down 11 points.

 

The team began looking tired midway through the third trying to keep up with the Mountain Pointe offense.

 

“We lacked some composure tonight,” MacDonald said. “In key situations, we turned the ball over too many times.”

 

Offensively, the Aztecs struggled. The team went 0-for-4 in three-point attempts in the first quarter.

 

The Mountain Pointe Pride ran their offense almost flawlessly in the second half. The Pride were led by forward Jalen Graham, who had two momentum-changing slam dunks in the second half.

 

The Pride rank first in their region with a region record of 8-1.

 

Mountain Pointe has one more game at home against Gilbert, but is poised to make a strong playoff run this season.

 

Corona del Sol faces Desert Vista Tuesday night.