Nogales senior Steven Legleu led the seventh-seeded Apaches with 17 points in a 65-63 loss against visiting Surprise Willow Canyon in a 5A first round game Thursday night.
Juan Cervantes added nine points for Nogales, which finished 10-4 overall with a 5A Southern regular-season title.
Willow Canyon, the No. 10 seed with a 14-2 record, earned its first playoff win in 10 years. The Wildcats will play at No. 2 seed Catalina Foothills (16-1) in a quarterfinal game Saturday at 7 p.m. The Falcons beat Tempe McClintock 79-59 on Thursday.
Legleu, who began the season playing for prep team Southern Arizona Volunteers, finished with 217 points in 12 games with the Apaches this season. He had 692 points in 35 varsity games in the last two seasons for an average of 19.8 points.
5A: No. 12 Peoria Sunrise Mountain 60, Buena 56
Senior forward Christian Gouche led Buena with 14 points as the Colts lost only their second of the season.
The Colts finished their season 9-2 under first-year coach Tyler Molesworth after playing their first game very late into the season on Feb. 18 because of COVID-19 protocols.
They played 10 games in two weeks to qualify for the state playoffs.
Hector Ballesteros added 12 points on four 3-pointers for Buena against Sunrise Mountain.
The Mustangs (11-9) will next play in the 5A quarterfinals at No. 4 Gilbert on Saturday night.
WEDNESDAY FINAL
4A: No. 2 Salpointe 57, No. 15 El Mirage Dysart 39
No. 2 Salpointe (17-2) will host No. 7 Glendale Deer Valley (14-2) on Saturday night at 7 in the 4A quarterfinals after beating Dysart on Wednesday.
The Lancers are on a four-game winning streak after losing consecutive games Phoenix Sunnyslope (Feb. 27) and Catalina Foothills (March 1).
Jim Reynolds‘ team is led by senior guard Brady Ramon, who is averaging 14.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. He was a reserve last season when the Lancers earned the first state title in the school’s history.
BOYS BASKETBALL RESULTS/SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
5A BOYS BASKETBALL FIRST ROUND
No. 2 Catalina Foothills 79, No. 15 McClintock 59.
No. 12 Sunrise Mountain 60, No. 5 Buena 56
No. 10 Willow Canyon 65, No. 7 Nogales 63
SATURDAY
1A BOYS BASKETBALL SEMIFINALS
No. 4 St. David vs. No. 1 NV Christian at Scottsdale Coronado, 7:30 p.m.
No. 14 Patagonia vs. No. 2 Mohave Acc. at Scottsdale Coronado, 2:30 p.m.
2A/4A/5A BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINALS
(2A) No. 5 San Tan Charter at No. 4 Benson, 7 p.m.
(4A) No. 7 Deer Valley at No. 2 Salpointe, 7 p.m.
(5A) No. 10 Willow Canyon at No. 2 Catalina Foothills, 7 p.m.
FOLLOW @JAVIERJMORALES ON TWITTER!
ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon.
Recommended for you
