By Richard Smith
Twitter: @rsmithYWV

In a vaccum, the 86-62 victory looks like another Ironwood baskball blowout, the Eagles' fifth straight win of 14 points or more.

But the 5A quarterfinal inside a packed Glendale gym Feb. 21 certainly did not feel like a rout - for the first three quarters at least. #10 seed Nogales ran with #2 Ironwood and used their constant motion and pinpoint passing to lead 47-45 with under three minutes left in the third.

Then junior guard Bailon Black lit the match, draining a 25-foot three pointer to give the home team a 54-49 lead. Senior forward David Teibo stole the ball, spun in the lane and hit a layup, then senior guard Trend Hudgens swiped the inbound pass and was fouled.

Ironwood's 8-0 run in the final minute of the quarter built a 59-49 lead. Now Nogales had to chase the game - a daunting prospect given the ballhandling, passing ang shooting abilities af the Eagles' four guards.

"We believed that we could take advantage of the fact that we're a very deep team. It's been a long time since we played against a team that wanted to play fast. We felt like at a certain point with how fast we want to play that they would get worn down. They really didn't until Bailon's three." Ironwood coach Jordan Augustine said. "They played that 1-2-2 and did a really good job with it. Once we built a 10-point lead, they couldn't just sit back any more."

The win book's the program's third trip to the semifinals in more than 30 years of play, and the first since 1996.

Ironwood hosts region Rival and #6 Phoenix Sunnyslope (23-5) at 7 p.m. Feb. 27.Sunnyslope won its preseason tournament final in the teams' first meeting, only for Ironwood to rebound and claim both league games.

"This is huge for our school, the third time we've made it to the final four. The way that it's galvanized our community has been awesome," Augustine said. "It's going to take everything we have in order for us to compete with Sunnyslope. It's going to be as packed as it was tonight. But it's going to be nice to get to play one more here and no matter what it's our senior's last home game."

Initially, the home team was on its heels, and the raucous crowd filling the visiting bleachers surged with each Apache layup. Nogales repeatedly drove, drew the defense and found cutters in building early leads of 10-3, 16-7 and 21-13.

Yet the Eagles were leading 24-23 by the end of the first quarter. Their press forced several turnovers, which senior forward Jaden Glass converted into two layups. 

"They did a lot of new things tht we didn't see on film. In the first five minutes it was challenging. It took us a while to get a feel for their sets and what they were about," White said. "We thought our press was going to get turnovers, but they have good ball movement. Once it wasn't working, we made that adjustment. We know the on-ball defenders we have on this team and it made a difference."

White was the steadying force with seven first-quarter points. Nogales did not retreat, cutting the lead to 31-29 in the second quarter.

Hudgens answered with a trey. He led all scorers with 11 at the half, and his team took a 36-33 advantage into the locker room.

"To be honest, the film didn't do them justice. They played extremely well and are well coached. In two days to pick up some of the stuff that they picked up and do what they did against us, I thought they were extremely well prepared," Augustine said.

Nogales battled back in the early third quarter and took three brief leads, the last two resulting from threes by sophomore guard Edgardo Zubiate.

Zubiate was his team's second-leading scorer with 15 points. Junior forward Steven Legelu led the visitors with 20, and senior forward Julian Grijalva added 13.

Grijalva's fourth foul, late in the third quarter after Zubiate gave the Apaches a 47-45 lead, was crucial. Nogales did not get much from its bench, and Ironwood attacked immediately, with senior guard Dominic Gonzalez hitting a pair of treys.

Zubiate answered with a two, then Black's deep three kicked the Eagles into overdrive. With this team the big run seems inevitable - the only question is how it starts and which player starts it.

"In the second half we told each other to calm down," White said. "Shots like (Black's) take a lot out of the other team because they know they played good defense and a shot like that still goes in. That shot changed momentum and after that, everything went our way."

Legelu hit a three to start the fourth quarter. But Ironwood scored the next seven points to lead 66-52. 

The Apaches hung around a while longer, but Teibo dunked to the roar of the crowd and a 72-56 advantage. Ironwood dominated from there, with Hudgens dunk in the final 20 seconds the exclamation point.

To drive home the balance of their attack, Gonzalez led all scorers with 21 points, Hudgens and White tied for second with 20 points each.

"J.J. was extremely solid. Bailon has probably been our most consistent guy and him being in foul trouble in the first half hurt us a lot. Dom finally hit some threes in the second half after missing some that he usually doesn't," Augustine said. "Atmosphere-wise this was every bit as unbelievable as playing Millennium last year in this exact same game.

Richard Smith
Associate Editor | Surprise & West Valley Preps
@rsmithYWV

rsmith@iniusa.org

Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.

An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.

For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.

As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.