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 …

It took him until the final game of the season last year to tie Corey Myers’ single-season home run record of 22, but Mountain Pointe slugger Kevin Cron looks poised to break that mark with room to spare this year.
The senior catcher has 21 long balls this season, which is one off the state record that he shares with Myers, a former Desert Vista star. Cron very well could tie and pass the mark in the final two games of the regular season. Mountain Pointe plays Casa Grande today, a …

The Mesquite baseball team has been fantastic this season, and Baseball America has taken notice.
The Wildcats are 15-1 this season and are now ranked 15th nationally by the respected publication. Pinnacle, which is 14-1, is ranked 19th in the country, up six spots from last week.
Mesquite is ranked No. 1 by the Tribune in 5A-I and Pinnacle is No. 1 in 5A-II.
Hamilton was No. 20 and Mountain Pointe No. 21 in Baseball America’s previous rankings, but dropped out after suffering losses last week.

EDIT: I got an email from ESPN about …

There will be no shortage of intrigue when the 5A Division I boys basketball quarterfinals get under way Saturday night.
In the city of Mesa alone, there are two games that will be heavily anticipated.
No. 4 seed Mountain View is set to host No. 5 Corona del Sol in a contest between two of the state title favorites. The Toros may have had the most impressive regular season of anyone, and are looking to improve on last season’s semifinal exit.
The Aztecs have a solid young core, led by shooting guard Calaen …