By Jon Johnson
PIMA – The No. 1-ranked Pima Roughriders led from start to finish against the No. 8 Mohave Accelerated Patriots in the 2A Boys Basketball quarterfinal in Pima on Friday, punching their ticket to the state semifinals. The Riders will next play in Phoenix at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 26, against the No. 5 Fountain Hills Falcons, starting at 5 p.m.
Senior point guard Keegan Corona led the way for the Riders, not only by scoring the most points (21) but through his leadership and poise on the court. Corona not only nailed four 3-pointers, stifling the Patriots’ defense, but he also repeatedly found his big men down low, giving them opportunities to excel with nice assists.
Junior Joel Mattice was one of the biggest recipients, and he made the most of the opportunities, hitting for 15 points off six field goals and 3-4 from the foul line.
It was a tight, defensive first half. Pima mustered its way to an 11-3 lead early (the Patriots’ only score had been an Owen Honegger 3-pointer) when Vince Garcia Jr. (7 points) stole the ball and took it back the other way, finishing with a spin move over the defense of Stratton McRae to bring the deficit to 11-5 at the end of the first.
Points continued to be hard to come by in the second, but Corona helped Pima’s cause with two triples and an assist to Mattice on the baseline. And when the Patriots cut Pima’s lead to five, Corona dialed up his own number and drove for the bucket to give Pima a 21-14 lead at the half.
The teams broke free offensively in the third as the Riders scored 20 in the period behind a slew of field goals by Mattice and Tanner Smith (6 points), along with a shot from McRae (6 points) and Corona.
Honegger (14 points) tried to keep pace in the fourth with a step-back 3 and a drive to the rack, but every time he was followed with an equal answer from Corona, who hit a corner 3 and then drove to the bucket to give Pima a 46-35 lead late.
After Brendan Skiba (5 points) got it going on with a post move and then by hitting a long baseline jumper, a mini-game went on between Parker White (11 points) and Stratton McRae. White started by hitting a 3, and McRae immediately followed that up with a drive and score. White then came back with a pull-up jumper with McRae all in his face and got it to go.
But Pima was too strong, too often, as Corona took a steal back the other way for a layup, and then, off an inbounds play with 1:25 left in the game, nobody stops McRae as he drives all the way to the rim for the layup to put Pima up 15.
Charlie Richardson (7 points) had a final shot down low, and the Riders hit their free throws to finish the game 61-44.
Pima will now take on the No. 5 Fountain Hills Falcons in the semifinals at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 26, starting at 5 p.m.
