Flowing Wells High School will be inducting their Fourteenth class into the Sports Hall of Fame on Friday September 30, 2016. The induction ceremony will be prior to the football game against Amphitheater High School.
Salpointe beat Pueblo 47-14 Friday night to move to 4-1 on the year. It was an important victory for the Lancers considering the strength of the Kino Region in the 4A Conference. A loss now would have made the path to the playoffs more difficult with Cienega (5-0), Canyon del 0ro (3-2) and Catalina Foothills (4-1) remaining on the Salpointe schedule.
As expected, the Southern Region was well represented in the initial 5A Power Rankings released Thursday morning. Ironwood Ridge (8-1) was the top rated team, Cienega (6-2) came in at No. 3 and Sahuaro (6-1) was ranked No. 8. The rankings will be updated daily so expect some movement Friday morning with Sahuaro beating Cienega 3-0 Thursday night at home.
The 5A Southern Region is arguably the most difficult in Southern Arizona regardless of conference size. Four of the five programs in the 5A Southern Region have a place in my Top 10 rankings including Ironwood Ridge, Sahuaro, Cienega and Marana Mountain View.
Arizona Christian added All-Southern Arizona infielder Shae Bushey to its 2017 recruiting class this past week. Bushey, an infielder from Cienega, batted .439 in her junior year with two home runs, four triples, 10 doubles and 21 RBIs.
Cactus Shadows junior standout Jake Benanti played as even as can play to capture the championship of the Rivalry Cup held this past Friday and Saturday at the Stonecreek Golf Club. Benanti shot an even 71 on Friday and an even 71 (142) to defeat Highland senior Brock Goyen 142-148.
Cienega went 4-6 last year and missed the state playoffs. Watching other teams play in the postseason was territory the power-program was not used to but that nightmare appears to be over thanks, in part, to a 42-0 win over Flowing Wells Friday night because that win gave the Bobcats a 4-0 record. Going back to last year, the Bobcats have won seven in a row.
Ironwood Ridge improved to 5-0 on the year after beating Rincon/University 3-1 (25-21, 17-25, 25-13, 25-22) Tuesday night at home. With the win, head coach Bill Lang joined Juanita Kingston and Sandy Novak in the 400-win club for girls’ volleyball from Southern Arizona.
Pusch Ridge outlasted Safford 40-17 to improve to 2-1 on the year and it took a perfect night from a backup quarterback trying to make his own identity on a championship team to get it done.
Mountain View put together over 600 yards of offense Thursday night to get past Sunnyside 52-8. The win pushed the Mountain Lions to 2-1 on the year while the Blue Devils fell to 2-2. The win also avenged a 46-20 loss to Sunnyside last year that ultimately prevented the Mountain Lions from making the playoffs.
Mountain View swept district rival Marana 3-0 (25-19, 26-24, 25-15) Wednesday night to improve to 6-5 overall and 1-3 in regular season matches. The win came one day after taking power-program Salpointe to five sets at home before dropping the fifth set 15-8.
There will be a new champion at the Flowing Wells Volleyball Imitational this year, guaranteed. Catalina Foothills won the invitational last year and the year but Sahuarita, the 2015 runner-up, is still in the field.
Lang is already on the fabled Mt. Rushmore (in terms of wins) of volleyball coaches from Southern Arizona along with Juanita Kington (Rincon/University), Sandy Novak (Sahuaro), Melva Lundy (Canyon del Oro) and Heather Moore-Martin (Green Fields, Catalina & Salpointe). Kingston and Lundy have retired while Novak is still coaching at Sahuaro and Moore-Martin is at Salpointe.
Sahuaro went undefeated to capture the championship of the TUSD Girls Volleyball Invitational held at Palo Verde High School of Friday and Saturday. Sahuaro withstood a difficult semifinal match against Rincon/University before defeating Sabino 2-0 (25-14, 25-15) in the final match.
Desert Ridge has been on a major roll. The Jaguars have finished with at least 10 wins a year since 2010 and 11 wins since 2012 but it doesn’t seem to matter that the Jaguars finished runner-up in the state’s highest division last year, the team feels they have to prove themselves all over again.
Canyon del Oro scored an even 144 to get past Rincon/University (154) and Flowing Wells (216) at the Oro Valley Country Club on Thursday. Trevor Gregoire and Lance Picton paced the Dorados with a 1-under 35. Rincon standout Dallan Graybill also shot a 35.
BOYS: Salpointe 37, Canyon del Oro 45, Vista Grande 48
1: Johnny Desanti, Vista Grande: 17:09.77
2: Isaiah Guevara, Canyon del Oro: 17:10.23
3: Johnny Hernandez, Salpointe: 18:50.19
GIRLS: Salpointe 36, Vista Grande 45, Canyon del Oro DNS
1: Ana Alvarez-Tostado, Salpointe: 20:12.20
2: Zoe Delgado, Salpointe: 20:18.46
3: Katie Bruno, Canyon del Oro: 21:59.85