Derrian Carter is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover South Mountain for AZPreps365.com

TEMPE – A battle of youth versus experience was on display in round two of the AIA boys basketball 5A Playoffs. Experience barely won.

No. 3 McClintock Chargers escaped No. 6 Millennium Tigers, 64-61, on Saturday to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2019. The Chargers’ upperclassmen displayed their veteran experience in the closing minutes of the game, forcing three turnovers and making six of nine free throws in front of a raucous home crowd.

“I kept telling the guys during timeouts, ‘Remember, we're the more experienced team,’” Charger coach Sam Dentz said. “‘We've been here before. They're still young, but let's make sure that shows.’”

McClintock showcased its poise, executing a 17-10 run with less than six minutes left in the game. Junior Erenzo Scroggins and senior Pascal Volz sparked the run with a bank-shot floater from Scroggins and a momentum-shifting block from Volz.

Volz finished the night with a team-leading 19 points, along with two rebounds and one assist.

“We played as a team,” said senior Jaylen Wesley, who finished the night with 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. “Even when times got hard, we stuck together. That's what makes a championship team.”

In the final two minutes, McClintock’s defense was suffocating. Junior Davion Butler tipped a pass out of bounds, while Scroggins stole the ball from a Millennium player. Except for a made left corner 3-pointer from Tigers’ senior Reginald Orr, the Chargers forced Millennium to take contested shots.

“We practice (late-game situations),” Dentz said. “We'll put two minutes left on the board, put us down three or up three and simulate games that way, so it wasn't the first time (we’ve) been in that moment. I think that helped us.”

Butler gave McClintock a spark off the bench, scoring all the bench points for the Chargers (13), with nine of them coming in the fourth. He ignited McClintock’s transition offense, assisting on a transition alley-oop to Volz to end the third quarter and scoring in transition after stealing the ball in the fourth.

Butler ended the night with four made free throws, two steals, two assists and one rebound.

“It (was Butler’s) first time back with us since (Jan. 17) when he got hurt,” Denz said. “You could tell how experienced he was and how much that helped us (and) calmed us down the stretch. Davion is phenomenal.”

Millennium started the game with a 9-0 run and the second half with a 13-3 run but could not keep McClintock down. The Tigers lost junior forward Isaac Hymes in the third quarter, who was pivotal for rebounding and inside defense.

While Millennium's postseason run ended, coach Ty Amundsen is excited for the future of his program. “We're going to be aligned to win for the next five years, which (this is a) stepping stone for our kids to learn and get better,” Amundsen said. “We (were) ready for this moment, (and) we should have had it.”

Tigers sophomore Gabe Pickens was sensational. He found open teammates for baskets on out-of-bounds plays and in transition, created his own shots and scored as a facilitator in the pick-and-roll and on second-chance points. 

In the fourth quarter, Pickens spun right off a Charger defender for an underhand layup, and he knocked down a crucial, contested three-pointer to pull the Tigers within one point. Pickens concluded the semifinals with 23 points, making four three-pointers and four of six free throws, eight assists and two rebounds.

“(Gabe Pickens) did a great job,” Amundsen said. “That's what I expect from Gabe. (He’s) a Division I point guard, (and he’s) going to be dangerous (for) the next two years.”

McClintock will travel to No. 3 Gilbert in the 5A semifinals at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday in a rematch of the 2019 5A semifinals.

“We played Gilbert in the Final Four (in 2019), so it's a rematch of that game,” Dentz said. “We played Gilbert over the holidays, so we know exactly how good they are."