Sameer Malla is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover North Canyon High School for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – The North Canyon Rattlers held a weary Washington Rams squad to a single made three-pointer and eight made shots from the field all night in a dominating 57-24 win on senior night.

Washington was wrapping up the most dificult stretch of its schedule, as this was the Rams' third game in the past three days.

“We had a really tough game on Wednesday against West Point and a tough challenge on Thursday with Independence,” Washington coach Ernie Lopez said. “I think that we had a great week. We had won four in a row and five out of the last six coming into the game, but all credit goes to North Canyon. They played well and their energy was good.”

North Canyon forced Washington into 10 turnovers, with four players recording two steals each to clinch the team’s first conference title and the team’s best record (15-3) in school history.

“We executed the game plan today, and it was it was just a team effort,” North Canyon coach Michael O’Guinn said.

 

 

Sophomore Makhi Golston and senior Orlando Yanez led the Rattlers with 12 and 10 points, respectively. However, Friday night’s win involved ten players scoring at least a basket for North Canyon.

The Rattlers also swarmed Washington on all defensive half-court rotations. The second and third quarters epitomized that lockdown defense, as North Canyon only allowed four made shots during that 16-minute span. The offense in turn capitalized, turning a slim 12-5 end of the first quarter lead to a 40-16 advantage heading into the final frame.

“I think we showed how deep we are and how versatile we are,” O’Guinn said.

North Canyon earned the win and the conference title despite starting its 16th lineup this season. Most of the year, the turnover was due to Covid or academic issues. However, the lineup tinkering this time was not related to either reason.

“I just went with my gut and what I thought was gonna be a better matchup for us this week for this game,” O’Guinn said. “I just thought it was gonna be the best opportunity for us to be successful.”

The highlight of the night for North Canyon could be in consideration for an ESPN SportsCenter 'Top 10 Plays' moment. With under three minutes left in the fourth quarter and North Canyon leading 53-21, a Washington layup try was swatted away by Rattler junior King Turner. In the same sequence, sophomore guard Peanut Barnes pushed the ball on the fast break to set up senior Tylen Wilfong with a one-handed, rim-rattling alley-oop that sent the packed Rattlers’ crowd into a frenzy.

“The crowd had me hyped,” Barnes said. “So, I was like, ‘Let me throw it up and let Tylen catch it’, as he has hops for a reason.”

“We get a great block on one side of the floor, and we get a three-on-one coming down,” O’Guinn said. “Tylen has been waiting for that opportunity to catch that pass in transition and I didn’t think he was going to catch that personally. When he tore it down, it kind of just solidified who we are and what we've done so far this year.”

The Rattlers (9-1 in 5A Central) will await their seed and opponent for the 5A conference tournament. Meanwhile, the Rams (8-9, 6-3) will finish their season by hosting the Willow Canyon Wildcats (13-4, 8-1) at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.