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 …

I went and caught the Red Mountain-Desert Ridge game tonight because I had yet to see Jaguars guard Derreck Brooks this season, and he didn’t disappoint.
The Grand Canyon University signee hit 14-of-21 shots from the field for 38 points, although the Lions used good balance to win the Division I matchup, 69-62 at Red Mountain.
Brooks scored 20 points in a row at one point in the first half and kept the Jaguars in the game until the Lions used a 15-4 second-half run to push a six-point lead to 17.
Desert …

Desert Ridge star Jordan Becerra has committed to play for Harvard, according to an email from his parents, Ted and Karen.
Becerra and Joey Counts led the Jaguars to a surprise appearance in the 5A Division I championship game in 2010, and after Parker Rasmussen returned from injury this year, Becerra moved back to his natural position of wide receiver and helped the team reach the Division I semifinals.
Becerra finished this season with 920 rushing yards, 16 total touchdowns, and had a pair of interceptions on defense to make the All-Tribune …

This is today’s schedule as the P.V. boys basketball invitational wraps up. Pinnacle and Desert Mountain will face off in one semifinal. The winner of that game will take on the Desert Ridge-Deer Valley winner in the championship game.
AT PINNACLE HIGH SCHOOL
10 a.m. – Coconino vs. Bradshaw Mountain; 11:30 a.m. – North Pointe vs. Goldwater.
AT PARADISE VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
10 a.m. – Perry vs. Sandra Day O’Connor; 11:30 a.m. – Cactus Shadows vs. North Canyon; 1 p.m. – Pinnacle vs. Desert Mountain (semifinals); 2:30 p.m. – Deer Valley vs. Desert Ridge (semifinals); 4 p.m. …

With Brophy’s surprising loss to Basha on Thursday, Desert Ridge seems like the only legitimate threat left to stop Hamilton’s four-peat in the Division I semifinals on Friday (apologies to Desert Vista and Basha, who I just don’t see giving the Huskies a game).
The teams played in the regular season, and while the Jaguars hung around, they could get nothing going offensively and the Huskies methodically pulled out a 28-6 victory.
Since that time, Hamilton has gotten much better, so any chance at an upset seems slim. However, Desert Ridge at …

Here are my Division I playoff predictions. Division II can be found here. Division III can be found here.
Division I
First round schedule: No. 16 Valley Vista at No. 1 Hamilton; No. 9 Chandler at No. 8 Westview; No. 12 Sunnyside at No. 5 Red Mountain; No. 13 Boulder Creek at No. 4 Desert Ridge; No. 14 North Canyon at No. 3 Desert Vista; No. 11 Cibola at No. 6 Pinnacle; No. 10 Tucson at No. 7 Basha; No. 15 Mountain Pointe at No. 2 Brophy.
First round winners: Hamilton, Chandler, Red …

At this point, we’re still not sure if Desert Ridge running back Joey Counts holds the single-game rushing record for a big school. To recap, he carried the ball 19 times for 400 yards (or 403, according to other publications) in a 63-14 win over Phoenix North Canyon on Friday.
The three yard difference doesn’t matter, because both marks would surpass Jeremiah Cornist’s 380-yard day for Avondale La Joya in 2008, the mark that is currently on the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s website as the 5A record. However, this article from the …

Desert Ridge quarterback Parker Rasmussen has a grade 1 separated shoulder, and while he should be cleared to play on Friday against Mesa, coach Jeremy Hathcock may be extra cautious and have him sit out.
Rasmussen suffered the injury early in the third quarter against Basha and didn’t play the rest of the game. He did rack up 166 rushing yards, 128 passing yards and four total touchdowns before getting hurt in the 63-24 win. A grade 1 separation is the least severe, Hathcock said.
The offense moved as well as it …

Willingly or not, maybe Parker Rasmussen should be the poster child for having an appeals process about automatic suspensions after ejections. The Desert Ridge quarterback can’t play this week against Red Mountain after he was tossed from last week’s win against Skyline for allegedly bumping into a referee during a scrum following a couple personal foul penalties on the Jaguars.
Nothing changed last year when former Apache Junction coach Rich Milligan was tossed from a game after an unsportsmanlike penalty was called against his team for what he called “incidental” contact …

Parker Rasmussen will not be playing on Friday against Red Mountain.
The Desert Ridge wide receiver/defensive back was ejected in the third quarter of last week’s win against Skyline for bumping an official, which means he is automatically suspended for the team’s next game, although the Jaguars were holding out hope that the decision would be overturned.
Desert Ridge disagreed with the referees’ version of events, but the ejection was filed with the Arizona Interscholastic Association, and appeals aren’t allowed.
Desert Ridge athletic director Darrell Stangle said he was notified of the decision …