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 …

A day late (and more than a dollar short these days), so apologies for being late with this Week in (Pre-)view of top girls basketball games this week as we hit the stretch run before sectional tournaments.  So without further ado let’s get to some jam-packed schedules……..
(All records are for power point games only through  Monday. All games at 7 p.m. unless noted otherwise):
Red Mountain at Hamilton (Tuesday):  It’s the No. 2 Lions (9-4) against No. 4 Hamilton (9-1) in a hecukva “freedom” game matchup. Backcourts will rule the show …

The three-week crush is on everywhere to get one of those 24 playoff spots come February. Appetites were whetted by the terrific Chandler-St. Mary’s matchup last Friday night, but more good stuff is coming quickly.
(All games at 7 p.m.  Records are power point games only as of Monday, Jan. 9).
Xavier at Highland (Monday):  Talk about starting off the week with a bang, the Gators (6-2) and Hawks (6-1) could meet again after this, somewhere along the lines of a state quarterfinals matchup. If you like shooting, defense and fundamentals, this …

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 …

Not to be outdone there are some pretty good girl’s basketball matchups this week as power point play resumes in full swing.
(Records are power point games only as of Wednesday morning).
Mountain View at Red Mountain (Wednesday):  The Toros have been every bit as good as advertised so far, going 7-0 in power point games and good showings in a out-of-state tournament in California as well as the Nike Tournament of Champions. The Lions have won five consecutive power point games, and this will be its biggest test since a two-point …

The Mountain Pointe boys basketball team went 22-6 last season and gave Mesa all it could handle in the quarterfinals of the 5A Division I state tournament, but with the losses of Tylor Wimbish and Jerome Garrison — two players that accounted for more than half the team’s scoring — a rebuilding season seemed likely.
Instead, the Pride has been one of the early-season surprises with an 8-0 start. An win over Brophy in the second game of the year opened some eyes, and the team recently won the Horizon Holiday …

While everyone will (or already has) peek ahead to the upcoming holidays, this week features several power-point-influential soccer matches – boys and girls – before tournament ratchet up again between Christmas and New Year’s.
These are the last power-point matchups for a couple weeks until school resumes at most places in early January.
Obviously it’s too early to worry about power points and where a given school stands in the rankings since most power point games will get crammed into January before the state tournament begins at the very end of January. …

The rainstorms and lightning put a lot of football teams in a weird position on Friday night.
Some games were called, others were moved to Saturday, others still haven’t been finished.
While it couldn’t have been an easy decision for any coach or administrator across the Valley, the decision for Mountain Pointe to forfeit the Ahwatukee Bowl against Desert Vista had me most perplexed.
In some cases, like Chandler’s 33-0 win over Mesquite, it was pretty evident that finishing the game would have had no bearing on the outcome. The Wolves dominated from …

Player of the Year: Mandi Grebe (Perry)
Coach of the Year: Allison Robinson (Perry)
First Team
P: Reba DePriest (Skyline); Jessica Wilkinson (Perry); Kim Myers (Casa Grande)
C: Courtney Stoll (Desert Ridge); Shelby Pacheco (Casa Grande)
IF: Toni Martinez (Perry); Jillian Leslie (Perry); Jackie Hernandez (Desert Ridge); Kaelyn Christofferson (Casa Grande); Nyla Wambold (Mtn. Pointe)
OF: Sella Gonzalez (Skyline); Mari Gomez (Casa Grande); Jasmine Zaker (Desert Ridge); Chandler Hillman (Mtn. Pointe)
UT: Ciara Gonzalez (Mtn. Pointe)
Flex: Krystal Singh (Casa Grande)
Second Team
P: Kayla Heath (Desert Ridge); Tori Herzberg (Perry)
C: Alyssa Dale (Westwood); Cecily …

Mesquite was the first victim of this year’s ultra-tough bottom bracket in the 5A boys volleyball tournament, losing to Mountain View in three sets on Monday.
The second-round matches feature four teams that could have been in the semifinals if the matchups aligned differently, but between Gilbert-Brophy and Mountain View-Hamilton, two teams will be going home earlier than expected.
In the top half, meanwhile, Chandler and Desert Vista are thanking their lucky stars. The Wolves had little problem dispatching defending-champion Glendale Deer Valley in three games, as they were underdogs in seeding …