By Jon Johnson
PIMA – The Pima Roughriders dominated from the opening tip, cruising to a convincing 63-36 victory over the Gilbert Classical Spartans in a high school boys basketball matchup on Tuesday.
Pima wasted no time asserting control, exploding out of the gates with a suffocating defense that fueled a lightning-fast transition game. The Roughriders built an overwhelming 27-4 lead by the end of the first quarter, turning steals into easy buckets and overwhelming the Spartans at every turn.
It started with Keegan Corona snagging a steal and pushing ahead to Tanner Smith for the layup. Moments later, Smith returned the favor with a steal of his own, feeding Stratton McRae, whose miss was cleaned up by Corona for the putback. Smith then connected with McRae again down low, and Corona capped the surge with a jumper as Pima’s balanced attack clicked on all cylinders.
Gilbert showed brief signs of life in the second quarter. Bryson Higgins converted a layup, but Pima’s big men answered immediately. Charlie Richardson powered through traffic inside, followed by Joel Mattice muscling his way to an and-1 through three defenders. After Mattice knocked down the free throw, the Spartans responded with a 6-0 spurt—Hobe Hartman drained a jumper from the free-throw line, Jayden Dong scored off an inbounds pass, and Dong added another easy finish down low after getting open.
Pima called a timeout, and whatever head coach Cliff Thompson said in the huddle worked like magic. The Roughriders closed the half on a tear, starting with a dagger three from Corona. Richardson finished strong inside (despite preferring his left hand in traffic), and another Corona steal led to McRae’s layup. Pima took a commanding 42-13 halftime lead.
The Spartans refused to fold in the third. Higgins found Jayden Yates for a score inside, but Richardson answered with a slick high-low pass to Mattice, who drew contact for another and-1. Gilbert countered again—Higgins hit a jumper, Hartman buried a three, and Higgins scored on the break—prompting another Pima timeout.
The Roughriders steadied themselves. Tanner Smith drained a second-chance three, Joel Mattice took a charge to spark the defense, and though Hartman stole and scored to keep Gilbert alive, Corona drove and dished a wrap-around pass to Richardson. Mattice then stole the ball, grabbed his own miss, and finished to push the lead to 30, triggering a running clock in the fourth.
Pima kept the pressure on in the final frame. Corona launched a half-court pass to McRae, who found Mattice for the finish. Corona drove for another wrap-around assist to Mattice, and Mattice added a short jumper in the paint. Gilbert showed heart with Aldrich Segarra’s three and Blake Carlson’s drive, while Chase Carlson hit a buzzer-beating three for a glimpse of the future.
But the outcome was never in doubt. The Roughriders’ defense-to-offense transition and interior dominance proved too much.
Joel Mattice led Pima with 20 points, while Charlie Richardson added 13, Keegan Corona and Tanner Smith each scored 11, and Stratton McRae chipped in 8.
For Gilbert Classical, Bryson Higgins paced the team with 10 points, Hobe Hartman had 7, Blake Carlson scored 5, Jayden Dong 4, Chase Carlson 3, Aldrich Segarra 3, Jayden Yates 2, and Luke Schmadeke 2.
Pima will next host the Miami Vandals on Friday, Jan. 23, before hosting the Arizona Lutheran Coyotes on Saturday, Jan. 24, with both games scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
