St. Mary's dominance forces others to get better in Arizona girls basketball

When it comes to dealing with an in-state national powerhouse within the Division I girls state basketball bracket, Dobson (Mesa) coach Tyler Dumas' line of thinking follows that of Lloyd Christmas from the hit film "Dumb & Dumber."

If you recall, the character played Jim Carrey fancied a lady out of his league. He asked her directly what were the chances of the two of them ever dating. She responded that it would be one in a million.

"So you're telling me there's a chance," was Christmas' response.

St. Mary's is nationally ranked and has won 58 straight, plus 69 of 70 games against Arizona competition. At the start of the 24-team state tournament last week, the odds of anyone else winning the state title were probably better than Chritmas' by a bit, but it wasn't like everyone else was conceding the fact they were playing for second place.

"It's the whole 'Dumb and Dumber' thing," Dumas said. "If there is a chance, I am going to take that chance."

Dumas and his Mustangs were ousted in the state quarterfinals on Monday and never got a chance this year to take on St. Mary's, but Dobson lost to them in the state semifinals last season and in 2010 won the state title by beating the Knights 61-59 in overtime in the finals.

If the Knights win in Thursday's semifinal, it would make their fifth-straight title game appearance and they would be one win away from winning their third title in a row. It is getting to the point that the rest of the Division I squads are playing for one spot in the title game, but Dumas believes it is good for the rest of the state.

"I think we are playing at a very high level right now as a state," he said. "We are going more and more Division I (recruits) and everyone knows if they want to win a state title you have to match St. Mary's. If you look at what we did as a whole at the Nike TOC tournament last year, although not as much this year, and we are on the rise. They are the clear favorite. It raises everyone else's level of competition."

See the MaxPreps 2013 Arizona girls basketball playoff brackets

Hamilton, which lost in the state championship to St. Mary's last season, gets another shot at the Knights in the semifinals, while on the other side of the bracket awaits the winner of No. 2 Highland and No. 3 Pinnacle.

Highland beat St. Mary's in the title game in 2009, while Pinnacle was the last Arizona team to beat St. Mary's in the regular season (Jan. 21, 2011) and made four straight Class 5A Division II finals through 2011 before moving up to Division I last year.

So those that remain seem to be the type of programs that can take on St. Mary's, which has six Division I recruits in senior twins Dominique Williams (UCLA) and Danielle Williams (Michigan), Chantel Osahor (Washington), Brandee Walton (New Mexico State), Chloe Johnson (San Diego State) and junior Courtney Ekmark (UConn).

"I told my players they are not allowed to use the S word until it happens," Pinnacle coach Troy Wiese said, who was referring to state and not St. Mary's. "We just have to play our best and see where it takes us. I am not thinking about anything other than the game we have in front of us."

Dumas said the approach he took in the 2010 title game and last year's semifinals was basically the same.

"I knew we weren't going to match their athleticism, size and basketball IQ," he said. "They had us beat in those categories, but we had to do what was best for us. We couldn't attempt to play their game. We had to forget about all of that and execute our game plan. We played just about perfect and got the win."

In other words, they had a chance, and they took advantage of it.

"As a coach that's all you really want, an opportunity," Dumas said.

Here is a look at the remaining playoff schedule:

Division I
Semifinals Thursday at Wells Fargo Arena
Finals Saturday at Jobing.com Arena, 2 p.m.
No. 3 Pinnacle (Phoenix) vs. No. 2 Highland (Gilbert), 2:30 p.m.
No. 5 Hamilton (Chandler) vs. No. 1 St. Mary's (Phoenix), 6 p.m.

Division II
All games at Jobing.com Arena
Quarterfinals Tuesday, Semifinals Thursday
Finals Saturday at 10 a.m.
No. 8 Saguaro (Scottsdale) vs. No. 1 Bradshaw Mountain (Prescott Valley), 7:45 p.m.
No. 5 Liberty (Peoria) at No. 4 Thunderbird (Phoenix), 2:30 p.m.
No. 14 South Mountain (Phoenix) vs. No. 6 Flowing Wells (Tucson), 4:15 p.m.
No. 10 Campo Verde (Gilbert) vs. No. 2 Seton Catholic (Chandler), 6 p.m.

Division III
All games at Jobing.com Arena
Semifinals Friday, Finals Saturday at 8 p.m.
No. 12 Holbrook vs. No. 1 Winslow, 6:15 p.m.
No. 3 Window Rock (Fort Defiance) vs. No. 2 Valley (Sanders), 2:45 p.m.

Division IV
All games at Tim's Toyota Center
Quarterfinals Thursday, Semifinals Friday
Finals on Saturday at 10 a.m.
No. 9 Rock Point vs. No. 1 Salt River (Scottsdale)
No. 5 Fort Thomas vs. No. 4 Joseph City
No. 6 Salome vs. No. 3 Duncan
No. 10 Arizona Lutheran Academy (Phoenix,) vs. No. 2 Tempe Prep

Jason P. Skoda, a former Arizona Republic and current Ahwatukee Foothills News staff writer, is a 18-year sports writing veteran. Contact him at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.

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