TUCSON, Ariz. — After a win over American Leadership Academy - Gilbert North, the Sahuaro boys' basketball team will have the chance to win the state title for the first time since 2001.
It’s been 23 years since the last time the Sahuaro boys' basketball program saw a state title, but come Thursday the Cougars have a chance to put those years behind them.
“We really focus on tradition," Sahuaro Assistant Basketball Coach Matt Botkin said. “We’re so happy these guys get to experience this, it’s something you don’t get to be a part of very often.”
Botkin was on that 2001 team and now has the chance to be coach of a state championship team.
But Botkin isn’t the only one on the staff with ties to Sahuaro.
“The coaches on our staff, we’re all former players," Botkin said.
All five coaches are Sahuaro alumni. Head coach Jim Henry coached under Sahauro icon Dick McConnell.
“For a young coach to be able to kind of learn from a legend was huge and we’ve tried to continue to run our program to the way we think Coach McConnell would have done it," Henry said.
Both Sahuaro’s last state title and the 2006 final four came during the McConnell era.
“When I sort of brought that year up to the guys, one of our seniors commented ‘Oh coach, that’s the year I was born'," Henry said. "I said 'yeah, so realize what it is you guys are doing right now'.”
For senior captains Bryce Marine Bess and Nick Ponds, the two hope to end their final season winning it all.
“It'll being my last game. I’m a little nervous but it’s just another game at the end of the day," Marine Bess said. "Once that tip-off happens, everything's just peaceful and you’ve just got to play.”
“I’m sad but I’m happy because this is the game I wanted to be my last," Ponds said. "If I can go out on a state chip, that’s the best way to go.”
The Cougars take the court at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, 1826 W. McDowell Road, against Deer Valley Thursday at 8 p.m.
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Erin Patterson is a reporter for KGUN 9. She's agraduate of the University of Alabama with a Bachelor’s in News Media with a Sports Concentration. Erin recently obtained her Master's Degree in Sports Journalism from Arizona State University at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, where she gained experience a sports reporter, anchor and producer. Share your story ideas and important issues with Erin by emailing erin.patterson@kgun9.com.
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