Catalina Foothills beat Mountain View 2-0 on the final day of pool play at the Salpointe Brandon Bean Invitational Wednesday night. The victory gave the Falcons (2-0-1) the third seed coming out of Group C. Mountain View (1-2) did not advance out of pool play.
Centennial won the Division II state championship in 2014 and the D-I championship last year and, thanks to a decisive 56-21 win over top-seeded Cienega in the 5A semifinal round on Friday night, the Coyotes will be going for their third championship in a row.
Salpointe went 5-0 to capture the championship of the Catalina Foothills Lady Falcon Invitational. The Lancers beat Rincon/University 3-1 in the final.
Sahuaro sophomore standout Halley Hughes played even on her first three holes and even on the last three to hold off her teammate Serenity Guerrero 39 to 40 Thursday afternoon at the Dell Urich Golf Course in Tucson. The two helped Sahuaro score 178 as a team to defeat Buena (209) and Rincon/University (230).
Ironwood Ridge had a setback on Tuesday when Cienega came in and beat the Nighthawks on their own court. It was a huge win for the Bobcats but it also came five days after getting swept by Sahuaro.
As expected, the Southern Region was well represented in the initial 5A Power Rankings released Thursday morning. Ironwood Ridge (8-1) was the top rated team, Cienega (6-2) came in at No. 3 and Sahuaro (6-1) was ranked No. 8. The rankings will be updated daily so expect some movement Friday morning with Sahuaro beating Cienega 3-0 Thursday night at home.
The 5A Southern Region is arguably the most difficult in Southern Arizona regardless of conference size. Four of the five programs in the 5A Southern Region have a place in my Top 10 rankings including Ironwood Ridge, Sahuaro, Cienega and Marana Mountain View.
Arizona Christian added All-Southern Arizona infielder Shae Bushey to its 2017 recruiting class this past week. Bushey, an infielder from Cienega, batted .439 in her junior year with two home runs, four triples, 10 doubles and 21 RBIs.
Cienega went 4-6 last year and missed the state playoffs. Watching other teams play in the postseason was territory the power-program was not used to but that nightmare appears to be over thanks, in part, to a 42-0 win over Flowing Wells Friday night because that win gave the Bobcats a 4-0 record. Going back to last year, the Bobcats have won seven in a row.
Ironwood Ridge beat Marana 62-42 Friday night in a game defined by turnovers, long runs and seemingly little defense. I guess one would have had to see the game in person to realize Marana (0-1) is not as bad as the final score indicates and Ironwood Ridge (1-0) is not quite as good as the 62 points indicates.
Cienega defeated Rincon/University 3-1 (25-21, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17) to capture the Division II, Section I title on Thursday night. With the win, the Bobcats joined the other section champions from D-II: Ironwood won Section II, Seton Catholic won Section III, Mesquite won Section IV and Marana Mountain View won Section V.
Salpointe defeated Cienega 5-1 Tuesday in a rematch of the Division II state championship game last year where the Bobcats prevailed 9-2. The Lancers (13-1 overall, 8-1 in power-ranking games) have reloaded despite the loss of seven seniors while Cienega (9-9, 3-3) is still trying to find an identity.
Ironwood Ridge had a difficult time shaking Basha last night but the Nighthawks pulled away with a 51-46 win to improve to 7-1 in power ranking games. Oh, and along the way, senior standout Lexy Ram set an important scoring milestone.
Salpointe's quest to earn a top-four seed in the state playoffs was bolstered by a 3-0 win over Tucson on Thursday night. Teams seeded in the top four have a chance to host two matches in the playoffs depending, of course, on a victory in the opening round.