Sports360AZ

Defense, Dragon Ball Z Lead Sunnyslope to State Title

The past three years, the Sunnyslope Vikings basketball team had plans in late February. 

Three straight title appearances, and, after Tuesday, two straight championships after beating Deer Valley 45-35.

This was the 15th game where the Vikings held their opponent to under 40 points in a contest, including all four postseason games.

“We knew we weren’t going to be, like, these four and five-star recruits getting a bucket whenever we wanted to,” Sunnyslope forward Chris Orozco said. “We knew we sort of had to move the ball to get through together. Even if that wasn’t falling, we had to fall back on defense and we had to lock down. That’s our bread and butter as our coach says.” 

For this predominantly senior team, three straight state title appearances will make them one of the best groups to ever play for the Vikings.

“This year wasn’t easy,” Sunnyslope head coach Ray Portela said. “Everyone was expecting us to win it again, everyone is bring their A-game. We had a couple slip-ups but we used it as motivation. We stayed with it and it’s just a testament to these guys. we played in three state championships, lost the first one to a great Mesa team, won two more. I don’t know what else you can say about that class.”

Their postseason effort was Herculean. No, Super Saiyan. Have no idea what I’m talking about? I’ll let senior forward Chris Orozco, who was one of many Sunnyslope players to write “SSJ4” on his taped wrist.

Sunnyslope Super Saiyan has a ring to it, right?

Mixing his passions for sports and storytelling, Jordan comes to Sports360az as a multimedia reporter/producer looking to share the best stories Arizona has to offer. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @JordyHamm

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