Safford and Empire met in a high stakes match Wednesday for a shot at the Division III playoffs and the Bulldogs came away with a 3-0 sweep to win Section III. Safford (9-7, 8-0 in section play) came in ranked 33rd while Empire (10-6, 7-1) was 37th. With only 16 teams making the playoffs, it was obvious the loser would be out.
The Division VI state playoffs got underway Saturday night with very little drama in the first round. No. 9 Glendale Prep beat No. 8 Salome 42-36 in a slight upset but the other three games went according to seed.
No. 6 Gilbert Christian beat 11 Ajo 64-22, No. 7 Mogollon got past No. 10 Williams 14-12 and No. 5 St. David defeated No. 12 Joseph City 58-14.
It's been ten years since Patagonia qualified for the state playoffs. That's a decade of frustration that will certainly end next week but The Gregory School made sure the Lobos would have to wait a bit longer to celebrate after beating Patagonia 3-2 (23-25, 26-24, 12-25, 25-22, 18-16) Monday night.
Casa Grande is 6-1 overall and 2-0 in section play. The Division IV team has not made the postseason since 2006 and even then the Cougars were seeded No. 16 and had to face No. 2 Mesa Mountain View in the first round where they lost 57-7. It's been a rough road ever since.
The Lions Den Invitational proved to be a mixture of some of the best talent Southern Arizona has to offer regardless of school size. Besides the usual "Big School" powers such as Salpointe, Sahuaro, Tucson and Cienega, Marana Mountain View was able to attract Division IV and V powers Pima, Thatcher and St. David.