When fans arrived at the Dog Pound at Horizon High School on Tuesday night, they were hoping to see a matchup between two of the top big men in the state. Because of a serious injury, that was not the case.
Chaparral came into Tuesday Night’s game 1-1 on the season after participating in the Paradise Valley Invitational. However, Chaparral lost more than one game as a result. Joe Boyd, the team’s stud junior forward seriously hurt his foot and was sitting in a wheelchair along side the team’s bench on Tuesday night.
But the Firebird’s rose to the occasion without their top scorer and knocked of Horizon in a tough road test by the final of 54-49.
One of Boyd’s main responsibilities along with scoring would have been to maintain Horizon Center Eric Lewis, who is committed to play at Air Force next year.
But a very strong defensive presence by Firebird Junior Center Eric Conklin against Lewis as well as great leadership from the Firebirds’ Senior floor general Evan Gelzyad brought, Chaparral back from a halftime deficit and outscored the Huskies 18 to eight in the third quarter. Which was more than enough to close things out for the Firebirds.
Chaparral moves to 2-1 on the season and will face Desert Mountain at home on friday night.
Horizon drops to 0-2 on the season and will try to get their first win of the season against a very tough Brophy team on Thursday.
For more coverage of Arizona High School Basketball, follow Jared Cohen on twitter at @JaredPros2Preps.