Shadow Mountain breaks away from Agua Fria

March 1, 2016 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


Junior one-upped his pops.

Michael Bibby Jr. walked off the floor Monday for the final time in a Shadow Mountain jersey with his second championship in tow. The senior point guard registered game-highs in points, rebounds, steals and assists, helping lead Shadow Mountain to the Division II boys title after a convincing 86-55 win over Agua Fria.

Bibby Jr. (22 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists, 5 steals) exited the Gila River Arena floor with 4:31 left and received a congratulatory hug from his dad, Bibby Sr., Shadow Mountain’s head coach and well-known alumnus of the school. Like his son, Bibby Sr. also concluded his high school playing career at Shadow Mountain with a state championship (in 1996), his only title as a high school player.

Bibby Jr.’s first championship win came two years ago when he drained seven 3-pointers in that D-II title game.

“We played hard (on Monday)” Bibby Sr. said. “That’s the way we like to play. Get up. Try to make them (Agua Fria) play at our pace. We made them turn the ball over. We made them take shots they didn’t want to take. And it went good for us.”

Shadow Mountain led wire-to-wire, buoyed by a strong defensive performance against one of the state’s highest scoring teams.

Agua Fria’s leading scorer, point guard Jordan McCants, was double-teamed at times and never got on track. Agua Fria’s big-three, McCants, Darnell Cowart and Bryce Fowler, finished a combined 1-for-24 from the field.

Meanwhile, Shadow Mountain received contributions from all over the court. JJ Rhymes, freshman Jalen House, and Dario Spotsville each scored in double figures for Shadow Mountain.

“I didn’t cry yet,” said Bibby Sr. about seeing his son play his final game for Shadow Mountain. “I don’t know if I’ll cry when I get back to the locker room. We’ll see.”

Agua Fria was in the game with 3:03 remaining in the second period, trailing only 31-26.

But that’s when Shadow Mountain began to pull away. Shadow Mountain added the game’s exclamation point to its title victory late in the third period.

That’s when Bibby Jr. passed the torch to the next talented Shadow Mountain guard, House, a freshman. After a steal from Bibby with about 2:40 left in the third, Bibby Jr. delivered a pass to House, whose behind-the-back pass to Spotsville led to a Spotsville transition basket.

That gave Shadow Mountain a 55-36 lead.

It was well on its way to wrapping up a 27-5 championship season.

Champions
#1: Champions
Shadow Mountain defeated Agua Fria in the Division II boys basketball final Monday at Gila River Arena.

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Champions