After an eligibility squabble last season that sent him to a school in Mississippi for a brief time, Blondy Baruti’s first two games in more than a year for the No. 5 Mesa boys basketball team were a mixed bag.
Foul trouble limited the 6-foot-9 Congolese forward to 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in his first home game, a 65-58 win over Phoenix Brophy on Tuesday. He had nine points and five rebounds early, showing the Jackrabbits what lies ahead with a thundering dunk in the game’s first minute.
In his first game back on Friday at Tucson Pueblo, Baruti had 10 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and five turnovers.
Jahii Carson had 19 points and Adam Milkovich added 15 for the Jackrabbits against Brophy in the Class 5A-I Fiesta Region opener for both teams.
Other top storylines from the week
2. Foothills still proving it: The No. 2 Goodyear Estrella Foothills' boys basketball team finished its New Mexico trip with a 76-53 win over defending state champion Roswell on Saturday in Clovis in the Border Classic. The event involved Arizona and New Mexico state champs. Senior guard Corey Hawkins had 25 points to lead the Wolves.
3. Knight moves: The Phoenix St. Mary’s girls basketball team served notice that youth won’t be an issue when it walloped previously No. 1 Phoenix Desert Vista, 64-46, to climb into the top spot in the MaxPreps state rankings. Five freshmen combined for 46 of St. Mary's points. Forward Aliyah Dickson led the way with 24 points, and Lindsay Leikem added 10. Desert Vista fell to No. 5 in the rankings. The height of St. Mary’s’ fab five will be the biggest issue for opponents down the stretch. Five-foot-nine twin guards Danielle and Dominique Williams, the 6-1 Leikem, the 5-11 Dickson and 6-1 post Chantel Osahor are a matchup nightmare.
4. Money performance: Bryce Cotton, Tucson Palo Verde's standout 6-foot shooting guard, outplayed Tucson Santa Rita point guard Terrell Stoglin, a Maryland signee, knocking down a step-back jumper from just inside the three-point line with 1.1 seconds left to give the Titans to a 72-70 victory over Santa Rita, their 12th straight win. Cotton had 29 points to Stoglin’s 25.
5. Serving notice: Mesa Skyline won the Apache Junction Wrestling Invitational, beating 5A-II power Tempe Marcos de Niza, 36-30 in the team dual championships, despite forfeiting two weight classes. Juan Munoz (135), Jared Gishie (140), and Chris Brown (Hwt.) won their weight classes for Skyline.
The Fab 5
1. Corey Hawkins, Goodyear Estrella Foothills, Sr., G: 40 points, 15 rebounds and six steals against one of New Mexico’s top programs, Clovis. Yeah, that earns the No. 1 spot for the Arizona State recruit.
2. Jordan McDougald, Mesa Red Mountain, Sr., G: 27 points, seven rebounds and three steals, while teammate Jordan Pratt added 18 points and 6 rebounds to lead host Red Mountain to a 74-59 victory over Chandler.
3. Bryce Cotton, Tucson Palo Verde, Sr., G: 29 points, including the game-winner against Tucson Santa Rita.
4. Rasta Nashio, Whiteriver Alchesay, Sr. G: Nashio had 30 points in a win over Payson and has scored at least 22 in 18 of the Falcons’ 19 games.
5. Royce Woolridge, Phoenix Sunnyslope, Sr., G: 24 points in hard-fought win that snapped Glendale Independence’s 12-game win streak.
On deck
The 7th Annual MLK Basketball Classic will be held at Arizona State University’s Wells Fargo Arena on Monday. Five high school games will be played.
The girls games feature No. 9 Tolleson vs. No. 12 Phoenix Pinnacle and No. 1 Phoenix St. Mary’s vs. No. 2 Phoenix Xavier. The boys games feature Mesa Red Mountain vs. Scottsdale Chaparral, No. 7 Phoenix Sunnyslope vs. Tempe McClintock and No. 5 Mesa vs. No. 4 Mesa Mountain View.
For more information visit: http://www.mlkbasketball.org/asu/.
Most of the state’s best wrestling teams will be in Tucson on Friday and Saturday for the Flowing Wells Invitational, the state’s top invitational.
Recruiting news
The state’s top ranked prospect, Goodyear Millennium safety Marquis Flowers, announced on national television Saturday that he will play football at the University of Arizona. Flowers, 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, declared during the U.S. Army High School All-American Bowl in San Antonio.
The Arizona Republic also reported that defensive back Ramon Abreu of Class 5A-II state runner-up Tempe Marcos de Niza has committed to play football at Arizona State.
Abreu, 5-foot-10, 170 pounds, chose ASU over Colorado and San Diego State. He was also was a running back and kick returner at Marcos.
Committing to the Air Force Academy were 6-0, Peoria Centennial MLB Austin Arias and 6-4 Phoenix Mountain Pointe TE Ben DeMarr.
Craig's cranium
Gila Bend guard Ashley Wirtzberger is four three-pointers away from breaking the national record for threes in a career (471 by Courtney Weibel, of Hononegah, Ill., from 2004-07).
For sentimental reasons, the Gila Monsters held Wirtzberger back so she could attempt the record today at San Pasqual. Wirtzberger spent her first three seasons at nearby Yuma Catholic before her dad, Bill, became the principal at Gila Bend.
She already owns the state record for threes in a career, as well as the single-season record. She is only 44 threes away from breaking the boys national record.
Craig Morgan is a freelance writer who has covered professional, college and high school sports in the Phoenix area for the past 17 years. He currently serves as the Phoenix correspondent for CBSSports.com, covering the Arizona Cardinals, Phoenix Suns and other pro and college teams in Arizona. He also writes a weekly column and other features for The Arizona Republic. You can reach him at craig@thewordsmithonline.com.
