Zach Lipman and the Hamilton soccer team have made a big impression on the 2014-15 winter sports season in Arizona.
Photo by Mark Jones
The steps to the postseason are numerous.
From the start of preseason practice in October for the winter sports to the deluge of tournaments over Christmas break to the current period of battling down the stretch, there are several milestones throughout a regular season.
And yet most seasons are defined by what happens over a two-week period covering the length of the postseason, especially for the teams with big expectations.
There are times, however, when performances are so memorable that no matter what happens the rest of the way the season will have a defining moment.
It happened three times in the recent weeks.
Janae Gonzales got it started and couldn't be stopped.
The
Sierra Linda (Phoenix) freshman set the state record when scored 51 points on 14 3-pointers. She overall she was 18 of 24 from the field, including 14 of 20 from behind the arc, and added one free throw.
"When I was warming up, I actually missed quite a few throws so I thought, man, this is going to be pretty tough," Gonzales told ABC 15 News.
The 51 points broke the record of 50 set by Paula Pyers of Pueblo in the 1982-83 season and the 14 3-pointers pushed Camelback's Christina Johnson, who made 11 against Carl Hayden in the 2006-07 season, to No. 2 all-time in Arizona.
"I'm more proud of the way that she's handled it and shared it with her teammates and how they're sharing their success together," Sierra Lind coach Desirae Carranza said.
The
Hamilton (Chandler) boys soccer team, which began the week No. 16 in MaxPreps' national rankings, became the first public school from Arizona to be invited prestigious Montverde Soccer Tournament in Florida and finished fourth.
The Huskies, led by all-tournament selection
Zach Lipman, went 1-2 but represented the state well, and cross-state road trips are always memorable.
Another record performance came down in Tucson as the
Mountain View (Mesa) wrestling team tied the all-time record for team points (316 set by Sunnyside in 1997) at the Flowing Wells Invitational, the state's toughest tournament.
The Toros had six finalists and came away with five individual champions in Paden Mason (120), Anthony Wokasch (145), Seth Monty (152), Weston Taylor and Kieffer Taylor (170).
It was just a continuation of what the Toros have done all season, but to do it that fashion — their margin of victory (106.5 points) was more than 26 of the 38 teams in the tournament — was something that may never be matched.
"There have been some great teams in Arizona," Mountain View coach Bob Callison said. "When you look at the some of the things these boys have accomplished in some pretty high profile tournaments you have to believe this team ranks up there.
"It won't matter though if we don't finish it by defending the state title."
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Prep Sports Director for 1013 Communications, is a 20-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.
