Arizona awards basketball championships for lower divisions

Nets have been cut down and replaced. Trophies have fingerprints all over them after being passed around team buses on the ride home. Basketball season is nearly over.

Team titles have been won by the small classes, but the big classifications are still to be decided.

In Class 5A Division I and II, the girls first round was Tuesday with the quarterfinals on Friday while the boys played Wednesday and will do so Saturday. The semifinals for both genders are Thursday, March 3 and the championship games are Friday, March 4.

The Class 4A Division II boys and girls play on Wednesday and 4A Division I boys and girls on Thursday. The finals for all are on Saturday at Jobing.com Arena.

The Class 3A semifinals are Friday with the finals on Saturday also at Jobing.com Arena.

MaxPreps Arizona boys basketball playoff brackets
MaxPreps Arizona girls basketball playoff brackets

Here is a recap of the championships in 1A and 2A:

CHANDLER VALLEY CHRISTIAN DEFENDS 2A GIRLS TITLE
Senior Ashton Wolf scored 24 points as the Valley Christian (Chandler) Trojans (28-2) defended their title with a 53-35 win over Thatcher. "Last year we were just trying to get the monkey off our backs," Wolf told reporters. "This year, there wasn't much pressure on us, so we could come in here and try and enjoy it. We definitely had fun."

GILBERT CHRISTIAN TAKES 1A GIRLS TITLE
Behind a turnover-hungry defense, Gilbert Christian won the school's second school title in three seasons with a 44-31 victory over Fort Thomas. Gilbert Christian led 26-25 before going on an 18-5 run spurred by its defense to knock off Fort Thomas as Molly Van Rijn scored 12 of her 16 points in the second half. "We took the press on and off when I thought it would be advantageous," Gilbert Christian coach Daryl Young told reporters. "We got an easy layup and a couple of turnovers."

FIREPOWER LEADS WESTWIND PREP TO FIRST 2A BOYS TITLE
Westwind Prep Academy (Phoenix) fell short of its scoring average of 91 points, but still managed to run away with the school's first state title. Westwind Prep, which finished runner-up last season, was "held" to less than 90 yet managed to win 86-63 against Thatcher as junior Demarquise Johnson had 26 points. "Last year, we were in the locker room and everyone was mad and upset," Johnson told reporters. "This feels great."

ORME BOYS EARN FIRST 1A TITLE
The Orme (Mayer) boys won their first state title after losing three previous appearances by beating Gilbert Christian 68-56. Metehan Akcam scored 25 points in helping the school to a 25-0 season as it knocked off top-ranked Gilbert Christian. "I think this is probably like a one-shot deal," Orme coach Todd Roe told reporters. "I said before, 'The stars kind of lined up for us.' We've always had a big international population at the school. We just happened to get kids this year that were experienced basketball players."

DIAMOND STARS
The baseball season started Wednesday with the Scottsdale Quarterback Club tournament. It is always a good test for big-school programs. Here is a quick look at some of the better players in the state:

Mesa Red Mountain's Cole Gleason (.514, 18 HRs, 57 RBIs), Phoenix Mountain Pointe's Kevin Cron (.496, 25 HRs, 59 RBIs) and Mesa Desert Ridge's Scott Hoffman (13-0, .457, 10 HRs, 40 RBIs) will garner most of the attention.

ST. MARY'S MAKES FOOTBALL CHOICE
Various reports had former Phoenix Central coach Todd Williamson named the new football coach for St. Mary's (Phoenix). Williamson turned the Central program around after two 1-9 seasons to go 13-8 the last two, including a playoff appearance in 2009.

BOISE STATE SNAGS HOLLAND
Chandler Hamilton senior Malcolm Holland was a late addition to the Boise State recruiting class. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Holland had six interceptions in Hamilton's state championship season at free safety but will move to cornerback in college.

Jason P. Skoda has been a sports writer in the Phoenix area for the last six years of his 15-year career.
He currently works at the Ahwatukee Foothills News after stints with The Arizona Republic, CoachesAid.com Arizona and a turn at freelancing for various newspapers and Web sites around the country.
Before landing in Arizona, he also worked in Ohio, California and Texas.
He can be contacted at jskoda1024@aol.com or 480-272-2449.