Mikey Silva (12) & Santino Duarte to sign with South Mountain on Wednesday (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)
Sunnyside beat San Luis 71-49 Tuesday night to win the 6A Southern Region championship. The victory clinched a bid to the 6A play-in tournament, although the Blue Devils were already in based on an 18th ranking coming in. The play-in game will take place on Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
Teams must win on Friday to advance to the 6A tournament. No. 25 Rincon/University beat No.35 Cibola 78-52 in the third-place game. The Rangers will be waiting for the play-in bracket reveal to see if the win was enough to move into the top 24.
In addition, No. 26 Tucson beat No. 40 Kofa 102-55. There may not be enough power points available for the Badgers to move up two spots.
On the girl’s side, No. 4 Tucson beat No. 32 Cibola 71-26 to make the 6A Southern Region a formality. The Badgers will move directly to the state tournament set for Tuesday, February 14.
No. 22 Rincon/University beat No. 36 Kofa 54-41 and will wait to see where they are when the play-in brackets are released. No. 37 Sunnyside beat No. 39 San Luis 49-41 in the other 6A Southern Region playoff game.
Nikc Jackson scored 22 points to lead Sunnyside past San Luis. Only a junior, Jackson has 507 points for Sunnyside after transferring in from Michigan. His 500th point came on a dunk. He also recorded his 19th double-double on the year.
Dwayne Eason added 11 points, Mikey Silva scored nine and Santino Duarte had eight. Silva and Duarte will be signing with South Mountain on Wednesday afternoon.
San Luis senior Gabriel Ponce Blanco scored 33 points to lead all scorers
Sunnyside 71, San Luis 49
SL: 6-7-27-9: 49
SS: 17-18-27-9: 71
SL: G. Ponce 33 (5-7); J. Quezada 6; J. Parra 3; A. Diaz 3; M. Duarte 2; A. Reyes 2 (2-2). 3-Pointers: G. Ponce 4; J. Parra; A. Diaz. 49 (7-9).
SS: N. Jackson 22 (6-11); D. Eason 11 (1-1); M. Silva 9 (0-2); S. Duarte 8; A. Canastillo 8; J. Acevedo 6; V. Nichols 5 (1-1); C. Diaz 2 (2-2). 3-Pointers A. Canastillo 2; D. Eason 2; M. Silva. 71 (10-16).
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Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014 and has been a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. His own children have won multiple state high school championships and were named to all-state teams. Competing in hockey, basketball, baseball and track & field in high school, his unique perspective can only be found here and on AZPreps365.com. Andy was named a Local Hero by the Tucson Weekly for 2016. Contact Andy Morales at AMoralesMyTucson@yahoo.com
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