The big school classifications – Class 5A Division I and II – are the lone state tournaments still going as the action moves to Jobing.com Arena for the boys and girls semifinals and finals.
The 5A II boys and girls semifinals are Wednesday at Jobing.com and 5A I is scheduled for Thursday.
Championship day is Friday as the action gets started at 12:30 p.m. with the 5A II girls, followed by the 5A II boys (3 p.m.), 5A I girls (5:30 p.m.) and 5A I boys (8 p.m.).
MaxPreps Arizona boys basketball playoff bracketsMaxPreps Arizona girls basketball playoff bracketsOne of the more intriguing semifinal matchups comes in 5A I boys as No. 6
Brophy College Prep (Phoenix) (20-7) takes on No. 2
Mesa (21-5) for the third time this season. Brophy, which lost the first two meetings, plays a team-oriented style, while Mesa isn't a one-man show but
Jahii Carson, an Arizona State recruit averaging 30.7 points a game, takes over whenever he feels the need.
"I love my teammates and I know they have my back," Carson said after his 37-point effort in the quarterfinal win over Mountain Pointe. "They told me they'd have my back and they did. You have to take what they give you. If that's me creating shots, being a (decoy) or taking the shot it doesn't matter as long as we are on the same page down the stretch."
TITLE HOLDERSThe 3A, 4A I and 4A II championships were last weekend with
Nogales (4A I),
Amphitheater (Tucson) (4A II) and
Holbrook (3A) winning boys titles.
Apollo (Glendale) (4A I),
Seton Catholic (Chandler) (4A II) and
Window Rock (Fort Defiance) (3A) taking the girls championships.
SCHEDULING SNAFUS ABOUNDThe release of the 2011-12 and 2012-13 football schedules have been pushed back several times because of late petitions on their placement by some schools. The expected release date is now Wednesday.
The rest of the team sports have been released and can be found at by
clicking here.
SKODA'S SENTIMENTThe dwindling of three-sport stars, especially at the 5A and 4A level, has been ongoing and sad.
The chase of the scholarship is the biggest reason why most sports are now year-round endeavors in order to get seen by as many recruiters/coaches as possible.
That's fine for those truly gifted. Go ahead and do what is needed.
The shame of it is when a kid doesn't have a chance to go big time and yet he is limiting his high school experience by spending his time in the weight room or on a club team instead of playing a different sport.
Not sure when this shift started, but I am guessing it happened about the same time recruiting services started popping up all over the Internet and athlete training centers became the norm during the offseason.
While these companies are raking in the money, they are stripping us of the all-around athlete.
Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Ahwatukee Foothill News staff writer, is a 15-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.
