Flowing Wells realized Friday before it traveled to Cave Creek to take on Cactus Shadows that a victory in the 5A state quarterfinal game meant a home game for the semifinal round.
The Lady Cabs, the No. 5 seed, heard the news of No. 1 seed Casteel (16-0) having to forfeit its first-round win over No. 16 Paradise Valley because its coach violated the AIA’s prior contact rule in which he worked for a club team last year that had a player who transferred to his team.
Paradise Valley faced No. 8 Gilbert on Friday and Gilbert won that game 61-36.
Flowing Wells defeated No. 4 Cactus Shadows 67-61 on Friday to advance to the semifinal round where it will host Gilbert on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The winner plays in the title game next Saturday at Gilbert Mesquite High School.
MiLinda Arguellez and Leamsi Acuña each had 20 points for the Lady Cabs (14-3) against Cactus Shadows. Arguellez also had six assists and five rebounds while Acuña pulled down nine rebounds and had four assists and two steals.
Navine Mallon, who had five games during the regular season with 20 rebounds or more, finished with 13 rebounds.
Sydney Lomeli-Capen contributed 10 points and five rebounds.
“The kids played really hard and aggressive,” Flowing Wells assistant coach Ken Urdahl mentioned. “They stuck to the game plan. We made free throws down the stretch.
“The kids played their hearts out and we kept our composure. To host the (semifinal) game is a special opportunity. We just have to remain focused.”
Flowing Wells has reached the state semifinals five times now under 16-year coach Michael Perkins.
The Lady Cabs will play for their first potential championship since 2012-13 when they lost in the title game to Scottsdale Saguaro. Perkins coached his team to a 33-1 record and state title in 2007-08.
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
