By Don Ketchum

Phoenix Pinnacle has a chance for a rare achievement on Wednesday (March 2) – having both its boys and girls basketball teams advance to the Class 5A Division II state championship games on Friday (March 4).

Pinnacle’s boys are the top seed in what has become the “Desert Valley Region Tournament’’ – three of the four semifinalists are from that region.

Pinnacle’s opponent in Wednesday’s 6:30 p.m. game is region foe Scottsdale Chaparral, the No. 4 seed. Pinnacle won both regular-season meetings. The other semifinal, at 8 p.m., features Desert Valley Region team Scottsdale Desert Mountain, the No. 2 seed, against third-seeded Laveen Betty H. Fairfax.

If Desert Mountain, the 2007 5A-II champ, should survive its semifinal, it would seem to have a reasonable chance to have a chance to win this year’s crown. It split its two games with Chaparral and was 1-2 against Pinnacle – the extra game came in the Paradise Valley holiday tournament.

Chaparral is led by guard Zeke Chapman and a strong group of athletic young players who aggressively attack the basket.

Fairfax started to come into its own around the time of the Phoenix Union District Holiday Tournament, playing tough games against Phoenix North and Laveen Cesar Chavez before falling – but those efforts showed that the Stampede could be competitive.

Pinnacle’s third-seeded girls team is hoping this year will be the charm. The Pioneers have been the state runner-up three straight seasons, to Phoenix South Mountain in 2008 and to Tolleson the last two seasons. Pinnacle is led by 6-foot-5 senior post player Aley Rohde, a four-year starter.

The opponent in the 5 p.m. semifinal will be Desert Valley Region foe Phoenix Horizon, which rallied to defeat Surprise Valley Vista 66-64 in the quarterfinals. Pinnacle swept the two-game regular-season series with Horizon.

Two other old friends meet in the other girls semifinal at 3:30 p.m. – Tolleson and Avondale Westview.

The teams always seem to play hard-fought, competitive games in the Desert West Region. Tolleson defeated Westview twice during the regular season, and captured a victory over the Knights in the 2007 title game.