I got an email about six weeks ago asking me if I would be available to cover a function I’ve covered in the past and this annual request is almost impossible to ignore since I teach children during the day and watch them play at night.
We are exactly two weeks away from the release of the first set of power ranking for boy’s and girl’s tennis but several teams from Southern Arizona have already started to set themselves apart from the rest.
Tucson and Catalina Foothills started their respective seasons out strong. The Badgers went 4-2 to take third place at the Red Mountain Lion Country Classic and the Falcons went 4-2 at the Canyon del Oro Dorado Classic but injuries, combined with a deadly schedule, has put the breaks to the Falcon’s fast start.
Bobcats win 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-17) over the Lancers.
Rincon/University went 6-0 to capture the Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) Boys’ Volleyball Invitational held at Palo Verde High School on Friday and Saturday.
Down 1-0 with one out and no runners on in the bottom of the seventh to Flowing Wells, Ironwood Ridge plated two unearned runs to come away with a 2-1 win on Friday evening. The victory pushed the Nighthawk record to 5-2 on the year and 2-1 in power-ranking games.
Canyon del Oro beat Sabino 6-3 Thursday to improve to 4-0 on the year while Sabino fell to 0-3. Leading the way for the Dorados was freshman Iain Morton. Morton defeated senior Rory Albrecht 6-1, 6-1 on the first court.
BASEBALL: Desert View moves to 2-0 with win at Panther Invitational
TUSD INVITE March 3-4 at Palo Verde
Shadow Mountain beat Salpointe to take the 4A state championship
Ironwood Ridge plated six runs in the bottom of the fourth and another run in the fifth to comeback and defeat Rincon/University 10-9 in the second round of the Dorado Softball Classic held Friday in Marana.
No. 2 Salpointe beat No. 3 Catalina Foothills 57-55 in overtime Thursday night to set up a 4A championship game against No. 1 Shadow Mountain on Saturday. While Shadow Mountain took care of No. 4 Moon Valley with ease, the game between Salpointe and Catalina Foothills went down to the wire.
No. 2 Salpointe will play No. 3 Catalina Foothills Thursday night in a 4A semifinal game scheduled to be played at Amphitheater at 7 p.m. The winner will advance to the championship set for Saturday afternoon.
No. 3 Sierra Linda (26-2) and No. 6 Cienega (18-6) are all set to battle in the bottom half of the 5A semifinals scheduled for Wednesday at 3 p.m. at Grand Canyon University.
It was a bad night for the 5A teams from Southern Arizona as No. 5 Buena, No. 6 Cienega and No. 10 Sahuaro all fell in the quarterfinal round on Saturday night but the results were completely opposite in the 4A bracket where two powerhouse programs from the Kino Region will meet for the third time this year.
No.7 Cienega upset No. 2 Arcadia Friday night in 5A action to advance to the semifinal round to be played next Wednesday, Feb. 22 at Grand Canyon University. The Bobcats (18-6) are the only 4A to 6A team from Southern Arizona to survive the night. Tucson (6A), Marana (5A), Ironwood Ridge (5A), Pueblo (4A) and Canyon del Oro (4A) all lost in the various quarterfinal rounds.
BASEBALL: Cowboy Up Tournament
Kino Sports Complex: Feb. 22-25
No. 13 Sabino was the only 3A team from Southern Arizona to advance to the second round. The Sabercats (16-11) beat No. 20 Monument Valley 57-41 to set up a game against No.4 American Leadership (17-5) in a game to be played at Poston Butte High School.
GIRLS 5A
FIRST ROUND
No. 5 Marana 48, No. 12 Fairfax 43
4A GIRLS CHAMPIONSHIP at Williams Field
No. 4 Salpointe 4, No. 2 Thunderbird 0
4A BOYS CHAMPIONSHIP at Williams Field
No. 1 Coronado 4, No. 3 Salpointe 3 (5-3 PKs)
No. 13 Mountain View came back from a first-half deficit to beat No.20 Carl Hayden 59-53 in a 5A play-in game held in Marana Friday night. The Falcons led 24-11 with 7:12 left in the second quarter and 32-24 at the half.
No. 11 Sahuaro used a late surge to get past No. 22 Apollo 48-41 in a 5A play-in tournament game hosted by the Cougars Thursday night.
Division II State Wrestling Preview
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1906 articles by Andy Morales
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