MaxPreps is pleased to announce that the
Basha (Chandler, Ariz.) Bears have officially been named to the 12th Annual MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions presented by the Army National Guard, which is in its 11th year honoring boys basketball.
This is one of the most prestigious team awards in all of high school sports and it is an exclusive honor reserved for the top 100 teams nationwide. In order to be eligible, a team must win a state championship and be highly ranked in the MaxPreps National Rankings. For basketball, only 20 of the country's best are invited and with nearly 40,000 competing varsity teams. This puts the Bears ahead of 99.9 percent of their opponents!
Beating Corona del Sol 75-65 in the Arizona 6A state championship basketball game Feb. 28, marked the completion of an incredible 31-1 season – and earned Basha an invitation to the Tour of Champions.
Basha's Austin Picarello was solid down the stretch, sinking five free throw attempts in the final 48-seconds, as Corona del Sol was trying to rally. But he wasn't the only Bear to flex his basketball muscle in the title game. Gabe McGlothan and Terrell Brown were steady as well.
McGlothan poured in 21 points and was credited with 11 rebounds, four assists and three steals. Brown was good for 23 points and in one second period stretch knocked down three straight shots from beyond the arc, as Basha outscored Corona del Sol 11-2 to turn a two-point Bear deficit into a sizeable advantage.
Basha knocked off Mesa 62-45 to get their tournament run going before upending Desert Ridge 68-40 in the quarterfinals and Desert Vista 43-38 in the semifinals to set up the title match.
The Bears began the season with 26-straight wins before falling to Perry 59-57 in early February. Still, one loss in 32 contests has set the Bears up for a huge year in the rankings department. Now riding a fairly new five game winning streak, Basha finished the year as the top team in
Class 6A, Arizona's largest classification, and in all of
Arizona.
Mike Grothaus' squad placed high in the national rankings as well, sitting
16th in the MaxPreps Xcellent 25 Writer's Poll and
52nd in MaxPreps' final National Computer Rankings.
These incredible season achievements have earned the Basha Bears an invitation to the 12th Annual Tour of Champions.
Please join us as we celebrate with the boys basketball team, coaching staff, students and fans on Thursday, April 13 at a pep rally, which starts at 9:10 a.m. in the courtyard.
For more information about the Tour of Champions, please visit the
MaxPreps Tour of Champions site.
