Saturday’s Scottsdale Invitational baseball tournament games have been moved from Arizona State’s Packard Stadium back to the local high schools.
Desert Mountain will host Desert Ridge in the championship game at 10 a.m.
Gilbert will play at Saguaro at 11 a.m. in the third place game.
Chaparral will host Notre Dame at noon in the fifth place game.
All times and locations are according to the team websites. The games are not going to be played at ASU because there will be parking lot renovations going on at that time outside the stadium, Desert …

ESPNHS, the high school branch of “The Worldwide Leader,” had a big story package on its website Wednesday morning honoring high school kids (36 boys and 36 girls) from around the country for contributions to their respective sport and the world at-large.
Among them are a couple from the East Valley:
Gilbert Christian’s Austin Gutwein, whom the Tribune chronicled here last winter for his work with third-world countries and African orphans by starting hoopsofhope.org
Chaparral defensive lineman Connor Svelty, who’s deaf and has two cochlear implants in his ears so he can hear. …

Congrats to Chaparral’s Davonte Neal for choosing a college. For kids and families it’s often a difficult, stressful decision with great importance beyond athletics, let alone when every BCS school in the country is in pursuit.
Congrats to everyone else in Arizona and beyond, who should no longer have to listen to, (especially) read about, or hear from Luke Neal ever again.
Somewhere in South Bend, Ind., Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly might be asking for a four-year “sabbatical.”
The Neals themselves are what turned Davonte’s dog-and-pony-show of a college announcement Tuesday morning …

The day before the Chaparral boys basketball team concluded the regular season, coach Damin Lopez didn’t think his team had a prayer of qualifying for the state tournament.
But a well-known face from a local competitor told him differently.
Chaparral defeated Tolleson, 81-73, on Feb. 2, and Lopez went to dinner with his father, David, and brother, Eli, after the game. David Lopez is the former coach of St. Mary’s and is now assisting Eli at Mountain Ridge.
Damin originally thought a Jan. 24 loss to Desert Mountain ended his team’s postseason hopes, …

The moment of truth regarding the alleged power points error is getting closer.
As I said late last week, it looks like the Perry boys basketball team may get squeezed out of the state tournament because of the alleged flaw exposed by a local engineer.
The Pumas did not qualify for their section tournament, and currently sit No. 22 in the power points. Normally, it would leave Perry with a very good chance to qualify for state, but the alleged mistake now makes it more perilous.
Here’s why:
Desert Mountain (No. 24 overall), Chaparral …

There is a very interesting story on our website today in which a local engineer and power points guru exposes an alleged flaw in the power points system.
If his allegation is correct, then teams that play more power point games are inadvertently rewarded for simply playing the extra games. Wins magnify the problem more, but if the claim holds true, even losing the extra game is likely to benefit a team.
This is very important because it may alter the landscape of the boys and girls boys basketball tournaments.
There are several real-world examples …

It’s the final week of the regular season as all final matches take place Thursday night. With the new division/section alignment, 9 automatic qualifying spots for the state tournament (top 3 in each section based on power points) and seven other at-large bids based on PP, it’s going to be a wild finish with many schools playing 2-3 matches this week, and a lot of really good teams will be left out to dry.
(All records are power point matches only as of Monday afternoon):
Perry vs. Mesquite  (Monday); at Mountain Pointe …

Don’t look now, but the calendar is creeping toward February, which means not only do basketball and soccer postseason tournaments get underway — and the way divisions and sections shake out, competitively both those sports’ postseasons figure to be something special — but football vacancies will be filled.
Chaparral fired the first shot in promoting longtime offensive coordinator Dave Huffine, which surprised no one given his accumen, former coach Charlie Ragle’s endorsement (which, like it or not, resonated) and Huffine’s understanding of the beast that Chaparral’s program has become.
Other dominoes will …

Chaparral star forward Joe Boyd’s long-awaited return from a foot injury could be delayed, but for a different reason.
Boyd posted on Twitter this morning that he is puking and getting sick, which may keep him out of tonight’s game against Westwood.
Boyd has been out since injuring his foot in the second game of the season against Glendale Deer Valley. He had 23 points, 15 rebounds and four blocks in the season opener against Cactus Shadows and is one of the top forwards in the East Valley.
The Firebirds are currently No. …

Similar to the boys side, the girls schedules are back in-full (and possibly overload) coming down the stretch with only three more weeks of regular season action left, and a lot of schools facing a lot of matches in not-a-lot of days.
(Records are power point matches only as of Monday, Jan. 9).
Gilbert at Highland (Tuesday):  Gilbert-school matchups rarely disappoint, and the high-powered Hawks (5-1) and steady Tigers (4-1) shouldn’t either. Highland won 4-2 in the first meeting on Dec. 21. Given the remaining schedule, Gilbert might have the best chance …