Jared Cohen
The next two days will showcase some of the top basketball teams in the nation as the the HoopHall West returns to the valley for the second straight year. Last season, Arizona teams faced off against one another and did not face national powers which included Bishop Gorman, Mater Dei or Oak Hill Academy just to name a few.
This season, Arizona teams will have their shot at some of the nation’s elite in three consecutive games from Chaparral High School on Saturday.
The first will be Pinnacle taking on Findlay Prep who returns to Phoenix for game action for the second time this season. Pinnacle and Findlay Prep faced off last season which saw the Pioneers fall 77-46. Findlay defeated Hillcrest Academy and Shadow Mountain at the Meritas Desert Classic from Rancho Solano last month and return some big named prospects which include Arizona signee Allonzo Trier, Auburn commit Horace Spencer and one of the top 2016 point guard prospects in the country, Derryck Thorton Jr. Findlay will have a marquee national showdown with Our Savior New American from Centereach, New York on Friday which is a team who only has two losses which are to Oak Hill Academy and Canadian powerhouse Orangeville Prep.
It will be a tough matchup for Pinnacle who may not be as deep as they have been in the past this season, but have played a great brand of team basketball which has already seen them knock off the Northern California runner-up from a season ago in Moreau Catholic this season. Coach Charlie Wilde has never been afraid to put his teams against elite national competition and the experience has payed dividends for later in the season as the Pioneers have been to two straight state title games.
After Pinnacle-Findlay Prep, Shadow Mountain, the division II state champion will take on DeMatha Catholic from Hyattsville, Maryland. The Matadors have put themselves through a gauntlet this season having already played Findley Prep this season and now take on another big time high school program. The Matadors proved something to a lot of people in that effort against Findlay despite Michael Bibby re-injuring his surgically repaired knee early in the game. JJ Rhymes had a career night and really turned the heads of college recruiters. DeMatha features three-star prospect according to Scout.com in 6-7 forward Jaelin Grant.
Finally, all eyes in the state of Arizona as well as California will be on two programs that have been the elite in their prospective states for quite some time. Three-time defending state champion Corona del Sol will take on Sierra Canyon from Chatsworth, California. It will include fantastic matchups of Corona stud sophomore point guard Alex Barcello against four-star junior point guard Devearl Ramsey as well as freshman phenom Marvin Bagley getting his toughest test yet in a Corona uniform against four-star sophomore power forward Cody Riley.
Corona’s only loss last season was to Findley Prep in a big national showcase game and this will be their biggest of the 2014-15 season. Corona already beat the number one ranked team in the state of Washington, Federal Way, in dominating fashion last week at the Visit Mesa Basketball Classic from Mesa Mountain View. Sierra Canyon reached the CIF Championship game last season and this year have four players that average double figures.
The complete two day schedule of HoopHall West is below:
GAMES AT CHAPARRAL HIGH SCHOOL
Date / Day / Time / Team 1 / Team 2
1/2 Friday 12:30pm Gilbert vs Chinle
1/2 Friday 2:30pm DeMatha Catholic vs Sierra Canyon
1/2 Friday 4:30pm Our Savior New American vs Findlay College Prep
1/2 Friday 6:30pm Desert Mountain vs Chaparral
Date / Day / Time / Team 1 / Team 2
1/3 Saturday 1:00pm Westview vs Chaparral
1/3 Saturday 3:00pm Pinnacle vs Findlay College Prep
1/3 Saturday 5:00pm Shadow Mountain vs DeMatha Catholic
1/3 Saturday 7:00pm Corona del Sol vs Sierra Canyon