2023-24 Boys Basketball

NOTEBOOK: Sahuaro boys & girls sweep Paradise Honors in 4A first round playoff games

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Sahuaro is only three games from a state championship after beating Paradise Honors in the first round Wednesday (Javier Morales/AllSportsTucson.com)

When Laura Botkin, wife of Sahuaro girls basketball coach and athletic director Steve Botkin, noticed that Surprise Paradise Honors was scheduled to play in the boys and girls state tournaments against the Cougar teams on consecutive nights in Tucson, she came up with a plan for her husband:

Make an inquiry to the AIA and Paradise Honors’ administration about limiting the travel of the Panthers all the way from Surprise (far northern Phoenix) and bring both the boys and girls programs to Sahuaro on one night.

Paradise Honors agreed to the switch and the boys played at 6 p.m. on Wednesday while the girls’ game started 15 minutes after the conclusion of the boys’ game.

“I hadn’t thought of it,” Botkin mentioned earlier this week of his wife’s plan. “Should be fun.”

It was fun for the Cougars, seeded No. 4 in each bracket, with both teams eliminating No. 13 Paradise Honors from their respective tournaments.

The Sahuaro boys (22-4) defeated Paradise Honors 64-47 before the girls improved to 23-9 by beating the Panthers 52-42.

The victories mean the Cougar boys and girls play at home in the quarterfinal round, significant because that’s only one round from making the final four of each bracket.

SAHUARO BOYS SOLVE PARADISE HONORS’ DEFENSE, PULL AWAY BEHIND LLAMAS

Sahuaro’s victory over Paradise Honors included overcoming what appeared to be a triangle-and-two defense with a mixture of zone and man-to-man.

The problem solver: Sahuaro’s lightning-quick point guard Cisco Llamas, only a sophomore.

After the game was tied at 14 late in the second quarter, Llamas’ defense that fueled Sahuaro’s transition game was too much for Paradise Honor, making their defense obsolete.

Llamas had 11 points by halftime, when Sahuaro built a 29-21 lead.

“I had to make the right plays, make the right pass and shoot the right shot,” Llamas said about Sahuaro’s pivotal second quarter. “I’m going to take the ball. If it’s right there, I going to go for it and read passing lanes.”

Llamas finished with 20 points and 10 steals.

Paradise Honors never mustered a threat in the second half.

“His defense really created a lot of our own offense,” said Sahuaro coach Jim Henry of Llamas. “We talked at halftime that the key will be defense and rebounding. That’s really when he took over in the second half, taking those steals and turning them into breakaway layups.”

In the second half, Nick Ponds had 10 of his 15 points and Julian Yazon had nine of his 11 points.

Sahuaro outscored Paradise Honors 19-7 in the fourth quarter to pull away. The Panthers made only two shots from the field in the quarter.

“Their defense was weird and it kind of messed with our team’s mind but we spread them out and attacked the gaps,” Ponds said. “We trusted our teammates and started making plays. We got on a run.”

Sahuaro plays No. 5 El Mirage Dysart (24-4) in the quarterfinal round Friday at 7 p.m. at Dick McConnell Gym. Dysart eliminated the Cougars in the first round of the playoffs last season at Sahuaro.

“I think we can get them this time, for sure,” Llamas said. “We have a lot of second-year players, even third-year so I think we’re going to be experienced enough to know what to do this time.”

SAHUARO GIRLS’ FULL-COURT PRESSURE TOO MUCH FOR PARADISE HONORS

Botkin’s team similarily remained close to Paradise Honors at the start of the game but gradually pulled away thanks to a stifling fullcourt pressure defense that affected the Panthers’ execution.

All the Cougars got involved in the scoring, especially senior captain Cassie Coolidge (nine of her 14 points in the second half), Dy’Anza Brown (13 points), Biale “Gift” Sika (12) and Kristen Valdez (nine).

“A lot of teams will try to come in and take Cassie away, so the other girls will have to step up,” Botkin said. “Brown did a good job of hitting some buckets and Gift hit some buckets. What I thought was really a key for us is Dazmyne Gambrell went in and played good defense.

“They got some big rebounds down the stretch for us, just hustle plays, diving after loose balls, plays like that. Really proud of the girls.”

The victory puts Sahuaro into the quarterfinals, where they will host either No. 5 Goodyear Estrella Foothills or No. 12 Pueblo on Saturday at 7 p.m. Pueblo plays Estrella Foothills on Thursday night in a first-round game.

“We didn’t press well early in the game and we kind of got away from it,” Botkin said of the win over Paradise Honors. “I thought in the third quarter when we went to the press, it sped the game up just a bit. We didn’t get a ton of turnovers out of it but we kind of took them out of their comfort zone.”

Sahuaro outscored Paradise Honors 15-9 in the third quarter to build a 46-34 lead. Coolidge scored her nine points of the second half in that quarter.

“It took us a little bit to warm up but by the end of the day, a win is a win and I’m really excited to get the chance to play in the next round,” said Coolidge. “I’m just excited to get to the next round. It’s an honor.”

Brown, no relation to recent Sahuaro standout Alyssa Brown, now excelling at UNLV, is making a name for herself as a senior guard.

She made two of Sahuaro’s five 3-pointers in the first half that enabled the Cougars to take a 31-25 halftime lead.

“I just felt hot,” Brown said of her shots from beyond the arc. “I love the energy from the team. It’s amazing. We just have to stay together. That’s all. Our energy has to be A-1.”

THURSDAY

6A GIRLS BASKETBALL FIRST ROUND
No. 13 Tucson at No. 4 Chavez, 7 p.m.

5A GIRLS BASKETBALL FIRST ROUND
No. 13 Nogales at No. 4 Kellis, 7 p.m.
No. 14 Ironwood Ridge at No. 3 Canyon View, 7 p.m.

4A GIRLS BASKETBALL FIRST ROUND
No. 16 Peoria at No. 1 Salpointe, 7 p.m.
No. 10 Saguaro at No. 7 Rio Rico, 7 p.m.
No. 9 Eastmark at No. 8 Mica Mountain, 7 p.m.
No. 11 Flowing Wells at No. 6 Deer Valley, 7 p.m.
No. 12 Pueblo at No. 5 Estrella Foothills, 7 p.m.
No. 15 Sahuarita at No. 2 Mesquite, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY

4A GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP AT MARANA
No. 4 Salpointe vs. No. 2 Walden Grove, 5 p.m.

4A BOYS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP AT MARANA
B: No. 4 Salpointe vs. No. 2 Mica Mountain, 7 p.m.

4A BOYS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINAL
No. 5 Dysart at No. 4 Sahuaro, 7 p.m.

SATURDAY

6A GIRLS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINAL
No. 1 Sunnyside hosts Chandler/Perry winner, 7 p.m.

4A GIRLS BASKETBALL QUARTERFINAL
No. 4 Sahuaro hosts Pueblo/Estrella Foothills winner, 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. He became an educator in 2016 and is presently a special education teacher at Sunnyside High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District.

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