Desert Mountain's House twins take over, other takeaways from Prime Time basketball tourney

A couple of Scottsdale schools, both from 5A, ended up in the biggest game of the Monarch Sports Prime Time Basketball Invitational Saturday night at Brophy Prep.

In the end, the House twins had the final word.

Kalek and Kaden House steered Desert Mountain to a 54-51 win over Notre Dame Prep for the championship.

Both made the All-Tournament team. They could have been co-Outstanding Players of the tournament. Kalek, who has sometimes played wingman to brother Kaden, ended up with the top individual honor.

Both were magnificent at both ends of the court, stealing passes, handling the ball well, dribbling out of traps, knocking down big shots, and showing why Desert Mountain has to be in the running for the Open state championship next season.

But let's pump the breaks just a tad.

It's June. It wasn't the Section 7, which is in a couple of weeks, when every team will be fully loaded with recruiting stakes on the table. None of the top players are going to miss it. Including the state's best, Gilbert Perry 6-foot-8 junior Koa Peat. He wasn't with his Perry team at Prime Time due to his duties playing for Team USA in the FIBA U16 Americas in Mexico, where he is proving why he might be the best 2025 basketball player in the United States.

Here are some takeaways from the Friday-Saturday basketball tournament:

-- On paper, it might have looked like a June version of the cream of the crop of what to expect in next season's Year 2 of the AIA Open Division state tournament. But not many of these elite teams at any conference were at full strength.

Phoenix Sunnyslope was missing its top players, guards Rider Portela (injury) and John Mattingly (illness), in a 20-point gold-bracket semifinal loss to Notre Dame. And it has a 6-10 freshman, Darius Wabbington, coming in who will be a big part of coach Ray Portela's plans next season. He was in a walking boot and did not play in the tournament.

Still, role players emerged and gutted out a 61-59 double-overtime win over a pretty-much intact Brophy team in the third-place game.

"Right now we are just inconsistent in terms of effort and executing our offensive and defensive concepts," Portela said. "We are just trying to become consistent at both ends.

"However, it was a good chance for us to play other players and evaluate what they could do."

-- Brophy is gearing up for a basketball camp at Washington next week, before returning for the Section 7 in Glendale at State Farm Stadium. Guard Braeden Speed is Brophy's top returning players, but guards Ayden Madi and Ryan Burbach, who will both be juniors. Watch for them to go from role players to star players this next season. Ayden had a big game in last season's 63-61 loss to Gilbert Highland in the 6A championship.

-- Goodyear Millennium went 3-1 in the tournament, losing its only game by one point in Friday's pool play to two-time defending 3A champion Chandler Valley Christian, but it was missing one of the top five players in the state in 6-foot-7 wing Cameron Holmes, who was playing at an elite camp. On the second day, Millennium was missing three starters, but defeated Chandler Basha 50-41 in its last game for the silver bracket title. One of those not there was newcomer guard Sabien Cain, who played Friday but had to return to Indiana on Saturday for a basketball event.

-- Notre Dame, which is returning seven of its top eight rotation players from last year's team, was without its top player during the weekend. Anthony Batson Jr., was away for an elite basketball camp. But the Saints, who have two of the brightest coaches in Luke DallaRiva and assistant Cody Bardet, made it to the championship game, before running out of gas at the end against a very scrappy, athletic and resilient Desert Mountain team.

-- Desert Mountain basically had its full squad, including power forward Tony Cumberland, the state's top-rated 2026 football player, a two-way linemen who is one of the nation's top defensive linemen. Cumberland was a bull in the lane, scoring inside and being a defense force in the paint. The Wolves also were able to introduce another set of twins, incoming freshman guards Javon and JaBron Bardwell, who are fitting right in as being difference makers for next season on varsity.

-- The House twins were great as freshmen last season. They're even better now. And they're surrounded by great coaching. Head coach Mitch Armour does a great job and he's good at delegating. For the first time this summer, the Wolves had Michael Bibby on the bench, helping coach. He's the son of former NBA point guard Mike Bibby, who coached Shadow Mountain to four consecutive state championships that included his nephew Jaelen House, who is the brother of Kaden and Kalek.

Eddie House, another former NBA guard who is considered one of the greatest players in Arizona State history, is the father of Jaelen, Kaden and Kalek. Between the semifinal and championship games Saturday, Eddie House was on the court with Kaden and Kalek, showing thme things they can do during the flow of a game to be better.

"We have a lot of good guard play," Kaden House said. "I think we're better than last year's team." That Desert Mountain team went 25-5, losing to Perry 64-50 in the Open state semifinals.

-- Valley Christian once again will be the big favorite in 3A. But some might argue with the AIA to give the Trojans a special invite to the Open. Why not? They return the best player in 3A, guard Luke Shaw, and he's surrounded by an incredible supporting cast. Coach Greg Haagsma is as good as any coach in the state, at any level. He knows how to get these guys to peak come playoff time. If nothing else, the Trojans made a statement that they belong in the Open.

-- Don't be fooled by Perry's 0-2 Friday that included a double-digit loss to Brophy Prep during pool play. Perry wound up in the bronze bracket, winning it. But Perry still has to be considered one of the favorites to win the state title. As long as it has Peat on the court, the Pumas are the favorite. Peat is the ultimate difference maker for any team. And he changes the whole game for Perry when he's out there. Just look at what he is doing for Team USA. While his Perry teammates pulled out the bronze bracket title, Peat was in Mexico, scoring 29 points, grabbing 14 rebounds in 22 minutes in a 122-63 semifinal win over Puerto Rico.

Perry also was without guard NoNo Brown, who was nursing a shoulder injury that required surgery.

"I thought it was good for us to look at some guys and develop some depth this weekend," Perry coach Sam Duane Jr., said. "We lost two tough games to two good teams without two key pieces in Koa and NoNo Brown.

"Overall, I thought we found more rhythm and got better each game as we try to find guys that will fit into a rotation fior us this year."

-- All-tournament team included the 6-3 House twins, Sunnyslope 6-7 senior Jai Anthoni Beardon, 6-4 senior Speed, Millennium 6-7 junior Kingston Tosi and Notre Dame 6-3 junior Bryce Quinet.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Desert Mountain Kalek and Kaden House twins takeaways from Prime Time basketball