Arizona HS basketball teams no longer take back seat to national powers at Hoophall West
Arizona high school boys basketball teams no longer have to take a back seat to the national teams that come to Scottsdale every year to showcase their talents at Chaparral High in the Hoophall West tournament.
There's Perry, with 6-foot-8 junior Koa Peat among the top three to five players in his class in the nation leading the defending Open state champions. Also, 6-6 sophomore Cameron Holmes and 6-6 junior Kingston Tosi elevating their play for Millennium, and a young but experienced Sunnyslope team already making a big splash in Southern California.
Those Arizona schools and more can take center stage this week among the rest of the high school giants.
Sunnyslope takes on Millennium at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, followed by the Desert Mountain Wolves, led by the House twins, facing Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep in two of the most anticipated Arizona high school games in the early part of this season.
On the last of the four-day event on Saturday night, Sunnyslope and Perry, which faced each other in last year's first AIA Open title game, get the final two marquee matchups. Sunnyslope will take on California power St. John Bosco at 6 p.m., followed by Perry against defending CIF Open Division state champion Harvard-Westlake at 8 p.m.
"I think the last 10 or so years we've seen a rise in the quality of play from Arizona teams to now we have shown we can not only compete with teams from other states, but we can also beat them in some of these showcase games," Sunnyslope coach Ray Portela said. "It is good to see coaches schedule games against out-of-state opponents.
"I think coaches want to see what is out there nationally and what they have to do to compete at that level. It only makes these teams better come playoff time."
This is the second year of the 32-team Open Division state basketball tournament in the Arizona Interscholastic Association for big-school conferences in 6A, 5A and 4A. It appears next year, the small conferences (1A through 3A) will also have an Open Division state tournament.
And after the first shot clock in the AIA went off without a hitch last year, the advancement of high school basketball has risen, as the prep academies have taken off in the last eight years in the Valley.
Last week, Sunnyslope hosted its annual Thanksgiving tournament without playing in it for the first time. That's because it chose to go to Corona, California to play a two-game showcase, beating Oak Hill 75-50 and host school Centennial 65-62.
That Centennial team went 30-5 last year, losing in the quarterfinals of the CIF State Open Division boys basketball tournament to eventual champion Harvard-Westlake.
Millennium went 3-1 in Duncanville, Texas last week in the Nike Thanksgiving HoopFest, losing its only game to Stony Point, which is 5-0 and is ranked No. 2 in 6A by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches. Holmes was limited in Texas after bruising his tailbone in a fall two minutes into his first game in Texas.
"As I enter my 17th season in Arizona, the level of basketball has tremendously improved," Millennium coach Ty Amundsen said. "Now more than ever we see high-level games and high-level players.
"To see an AIA player enter college and then the NBA proves that our game improving and players are staying put. I also see AIA top teams improving their schedule."
Amundsen cited not just Hoophall, but City of Palms, the Texas HoopFest, Damian Classic, Section 7 and Border League as big platforms where Arizona teams have stood out.
Perry, which had no trouble winning its first three games last week in the LV8 Invitational at Gilbert-Chandler Community College, came into this season ranked No. 13 in preseason nationally by MaxPreps.
Perry will be playing Friday night against No. 11 nationally ranked Archbishop Stepinac out of New York, and Saturday against No. 3 nationally ranked Harvard-Westlake. Archbishop Stepinac guard Boogie Fland signed this month with Kentucky and played with Peat on the Team USA squad that won a gold medal last summer.
"For us, we are honored to be a part of Hoophall West," coach Sam Duane Jr. said. "It will really benefit us in two ways: Our guys will get great exposure in such a high-profile event and will get to compete against outstanding players and teams.
"Second, as a team, we have two tough challenges and we will have to raise our level of play. It will allow us to see where we need to get better and prepare us for what's to come down the road."
Hoophall West schedule
At Scottsdale Chaparral High School
Wednesday: Chaparral vs. Salpointe (girls), 4 p.m.; Millennium vs. Perry (girls), 5:30; Desert Vista vs. Centennial (Nevada), 7 p.m.; Dream City Christian vs. Bella Vista Prep (boys), 8:30 p.m.
Thursday: Chaparral vs. Santa Barbara (boys), 4 p.m.; Sunnyslope vs. Millennium (boys), 5:30; Desert Mountain vs. Notre Dame Prep (boys), 7 p.m.; Boulder Creek vs. Liberty (boys), 8:30 p.m.
Friday: Canyon International Academy (Arizona) vs. Veritas Academy (California), boys, 4 p.m.; Arizona Compass Prep vs. Wasatch Academy (Utah), boys, 5:30; Perry vs. Archbishop Stepinac (New York), boys, 7 p.m.; Basha vs. Campbell Hall (California), boys, 8:30 p.m.
Saturday: Canyon International Academy vs. Wasatch Academy, boys, 10 a.m.; Arizona Compass Prep vs. Veritas Academy, boys, 11:30 a.m.; Basha vs. Coronado (Nevada), boys, 1 p.m.; Archbishop Stepinac vs. Corona Centennial, boys, 2:30 p.m.; Desert Mountain vs. Sierra Canyon (California), boys, 4:30 p.m.; Sunnyslope vs. St. John Bosco (California), boys, 6 p.m.; Perry vs. Harvard-Westlake (California), boys, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $15 general admission per day (pre-sale), $20 a day (walk-up) and $75 per day (VIP court seating).
To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona teams no longer taking back seat in Hoophall West Invitational
