What we learned over the holidays about Arizona high school boys basketball

There were breakthroughs, statements, surprises and great finishes during the holidays. The Arizona Republic reviews the boys' basketball scene through the past couple of weeks as we head into the second half of the season.

What we learned

Goodyear Millennium, Gilbert Perry and Phoenix Sunnyslope appear to be the most sure bets of getting to the 32-team Open Division semifinals this year.

Millennium, led by Cameron Holmes, Sabien Cain and Kingston Tosi, is 12-3, going 1-2 two weeks ago in the City of Palms Classic in Florida. That's one of the nation's most prestigious tournaments. This gauntlet schedule that includes a win over Sunnyslope in Hoophall West will set up this deep team well down the stretch.

Perry found out more about itself in the Les Schwab Invitational by going 3-1, losing its only game to Harvard-Westlake, rated No. 2 in the nation. This team knew it had 6-foot-8 Koa Peat to lean on, but Peat's been able to lean on dynamic 6-5 wing D'Andre Harrison, who had 28 points in the third-place win in Portland. Guard Barron Silsby is starting to find his shooting rhythm, and the Pumas will be well-prepared in the postseason playing one of the toughest schedules in the nation.

Sunnyslope went 2-2 at The Classic at Damien in California in the top division. Sophomore guard John Mattingly has been in a zone for more than two weeks now, since scoring 43 points in a 62-60 win at Brophy Prep.

The biggest question appears to be who will that fourth semifinal team in the Open? Could it be Scottsdale Desert Mountain, a final four team a year ago? So much is being put on the House twins, sophomore guards Kaden and Kalek, but they'll need help, especially in the post. The Wolves went 2-2 in the top bracket of the Visit Mesa Challenge at Mountain View.

Chandler Basha, Phoenix St. Mary's and Brophy are in the mix. There's a huge showdown Wednesday night when the St. Mary's Knights take on rival Brophy in a game that has an Open playoff feel to it. St. Mary's is 8-6, but it has mostly played out-of-state teams. Senior guard Styles Phipps has been sensational. He was MVP in one tournament in California and played well in the Holiday Classic at Torrey Pines, dropping 43 points on Our Lady of Good Counsel of Maryland in the first round. He followed that up with 33 points in a one-point loss to Carlsbad.

Biggest statement

Queen Creek Casteel, part of the Chandler Unified School District, might have a 5A championship season in the making behind junior Amare King and senior Aidan Schmidt. The team is 13-2 after beating McClintock for the McClintock Holiday Shootout tournament championship. Schmidt was named MVP and King made the all-tournament team. Casteel had wins over Chandler, Gilbert and in overtime against Hamilton. Coach Aaron Windler, who led Scottsdale Chaparral to the 2011 5A-II championship game, has elevated this program in his four years at Casteel.

"I think that we've been very competitive my previous three seasons at Casteel, but it does take time to develop talent and for players to fully understand and embrace the expectations of our program," Windler said. "Our strength coach, Rob Brokaw, has been instrumental in that process.

"We have a very deep team with four players that have been very consistent for us as of late, led by senior Aidan Schmidt and junior Amare King.  Defensively, I think that we've been very good.  I'm hoping that we keep everyone healthy and continue to improve over the next several weeks."

Casteel will find out how good it is on Jan. 9 when it plays Scottsdale Desert Mountain, which is ranked No. 9 in The Republic's Super 10 and has one of the state's most prolific scorers in sophomore guard Kaden House.

Best coaching job

As great a job as Windler has done, you have to put Phoenix Desert Vista's Walter Bonner in the midseason Coach of the Year conversation. He came in during an unsettling period for Thunder basketball as the fourth coach in three years. After going 4-21 last year, the Thunder are 9-5 after winning the Fat Lever Classic at Tucson Pueblo last week, beating Sierra Vista Buena 78-60 in the championship game with Corey James emerging as the tournament MVP. They beat 10-win Mesa in mid-December.

Best breakthrough

It might be Queen Creek, which already has 10 wins, one less than it had all of last season. Coach Ben Torbert has done a good job of getting these guys to play unselfishly to get to 10-6 and going 3-1 and finishing third in the Cactus Winter Shootout, where 6-2 junior wing Blake Stradling made the all-tournament team. Queen Creek lost one of its top players, who transferred to Mesa Mountain View. But five players are averaging between 8 and 13 points a game.

"We have a different leading scorer pretty much every night," Torbert said. "Our top six players all impact our success pretty equally."

He is hoping this is a turnaround season.

"We still have a fair amount of work to do, but varsity has a chance to take a serious step forward compared to where QC basketball has been in the past," Torbert said. "If we can go at least .500 or better in region play, then we'd have the first winning season record since QC moved to 6A, and I assume we'd make the playoffs with that record, as well.

"Still need to make that happen though over the next month, and there are no gimme games in the Central Region. Those top six guys we have contributing have a good mix of size, athleticism, and skill, and all but one should be returning next year. Program as a whole still needs to build up depth at all three levels, but I think there's a chance to build a legitimate, competitive program out in Queen Creek if we can keep it moving in the right direction."

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

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What we learned over the holidays about Arizona boys basketball