Tuesday night’s boys basketball matchup featuring Arcadia and Chaparral turned into a gritty game between the two rival schools. 

But in the end Arcadia pulled away victorious on the road over the Firebirds, 83-73. While both teams were trying to improve their 5A Conference power ranking, bragging rights were also on the line during Chaparral’s last regular-season home game.

The Arcadia Titans ended the first quarter on a 12-4 run thanks in large part to their full-court pressure. The defensive intensity forced several big turnovers, leading to transition points.

Titan’s coach Stephen Danford made sure his team was able to apply a lot of pressure from the get-go. 

“We’ve been working on our press a little bit, and because we didn’t press that much earlier in the year teams really haven’t scouted us for it,” the coach said.

As a result of the intense defense, Chaparral struggled to knock down shots.

Arcadia’s student section also didn’t make anything easy for the Firebirds. After every big play, Arcadia’s students made sure they were heard.

“Our fans are the best,” Danford said. “They have carried us at times, like when Chap started to make a run the crowd got into it and really helped us out.”

The conclusion of the first half saw Arcadia extend its lead to 13 thanks to Reed Richardson’s seven second quarter points. 

Despite the offensive struggles, Chaparral coach Dan Peterson and his team weren’t deterred. 

“We still wanted to battle to the end,” he said. “We tried to put some of their guys at the free throw line. I saw our team continue to fight until the end.”

The Firebirds only allowed 10 points in the third quarter after installing a full-court press. 

Arcadia’s Richardson led the scoring for the Titans, finishing with a game high 27 points.

“I was really just focused was on getting good opportunities and looks,” Richardson said.

Arcadia guards Jaylin Fleming and Max Moses each had 14 points.

Five of Fleming’s points came at the free throw line to help Arcadia close out the win. Matt Burton and Aiden Weber rounded out their team’s scoring, posting 11 and 10 points respectively.

For Chaparral, Colton Kresl had 25 points, 19 of which came in the first half. JT Thoman had 10 points, all of which came during Chaparral’s second half push.

With the win, Arcadia moves to 24-3 overall, and  Chaparral drops to 20-6 overall.

Peterson took the game in stride and wants his team to do the same. 

“This was a tough game against a tough team,” he said. “But it’ll get us ready for the matchups we’ll have in the playoffs.”