By Richard Smith
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I’yar Shadowvine started his Ironwood basketball career as a wild card and is ending it as the most reliable, team-oriented point guard in the state.

He was second in the state in assists last year at 6.7. The distributor led a potent Ironwood offense that averaged 72 points a game on the way to a 5A Conference title.

This year, Shadowvine is operating an offense that is almost all new around him. Yet he is averaging — you guessed it — 6.7 assists per game, the Eagles are averaging 70 and Ironwood has earned a spot in the eight-team Open Division for Arizona’s top teams.

“I’ve just been a mentor to them, because that’s what guys did for me. I’m making sure they understand the game and how they can attack. I know their strengths and weaknesses, and how to put them in the right position. I’m teaching them how to put other people in the right position,” Shadowvine said. “Carsyn, going from last year, over the summer it was really talking to him about being aggressive and not being intimidated. Kory is the opposite. We had to get him a feel for the game and picking his spots to attack, because he’s always aggressive."

Kory is Kory Head-Holbrook, a junior who did not play for the Eagles last year and now leads them with 15 points a game. Sophomore guard Carsyn Dean barely played last season and now averages 10.3 points a contest.

All five Eagles starters score in double figures.

“He wants to do what it takes to win and has done that at a level that no guard has ever done it in our program’s history,” Ironwood coach Jordan Augustine said.

Tonight the underdogs get a shot at top seed and three-time defending champion Gilbert Perry. It is what the Eagles wanted.

From day one, this team wanted to get better than being 5A champion and wanted to qualify for the open eight, Shadowvine said.

“It’s a mission that I feel everybody’s locked in on, winning this Open Division championship. It’s something special to see,” Shadowvine said. “We get a shot at them, but they get a shot at us. Everybody thinks we’re the underdogs. We’re exactly where we’re supposed to be. Going into the game we have no fear. The result is the result. We’re hoping to win.”

Shadowvine and his family moved to the West Valley from Tacoma, Wash.

He then became the rare freshman to not only play for the Eagles’ varsity, but start. That young Ironwood team lost in the first round of the 5A playoffs to eventual champion Centennial.

“Coming in my freshman year I was a wiry guy. I was off the wall and unpredictable. I’ve still got that with me. I think that the older guys taught me how to hone in that power and come out here and execute. I really learned how to be my very best,” Shadowvine said.

He played shooting guard that year, with senior DeOtis Nunn and junior Leonard Romayor handling point guard duties.

As a sophomore Romayor and Shadowvine shared running the offense, though Shadowvine was more of an attacker and was second on the team in scoring.

Those 2022-23 Eagles were ranked #5 in the state and qualified for the first Open Division quarterfinals. Scottsdale Desert Mountain spoiled the party in that round and Ironwood had to start over.

“Learning from Leonard, I still talk to him. And he always tells me I need to stay in control. That’s what I hear from coaches. Especially that year, being in the Open Division, being under his wing, I got to learn how to be a point guard. I learned how to watch film and be a student of the game,” Shadowvine said. “Going into last season I worked on being a point guard. Luckily, in that twin point guard king of thing, I was able to learn how to run an offense. Coaches prepared me for that moment.”

With five seniors from that team graduated, the focus shifted to Shadowvine operating the offense and the press, and setting up knock-down shooting guards Noah Gifft and Blake Carabio.

Ironwood went 27-3, losing only to Boulder Creek in the regular season, an Idaho team in a tournament and Phoenix St. Mary’s in the second round of the Open Division.

Gilbert Higley gave the Eagles a semifinal scare but Ironwood survived and routed Queen Creek Casteel 55-31 for the big gold ball.

“One of my fondest memories was going to Idaho, and we went to Hawaii tournament. Going out there was a surreal experience, getting to go on a plane for the first time. In the summer, we went to Washington and I got to go back to my home town — Tacoma. Shout out to the 253. Seeing my family there was fun,” Shadowvine said. “Then obviously, winning state. The shootaround before state and the bus ride there were surreal experiences.”

All four senior groups of his high school years have been special, he said. Ironwood has a mentorship program for older guys and alumni come back.

Every single level, from freshman to varsity, are all brother’s keepers, Shadowvine said.

He is the only player in Ironwood history with more than 1,000 points and 400 assists.

“I’yar is truly one of a kind. He has elevated our program from the second he walked on this campus. His leadership is exceptional,” Augustine said.

Shadowvine is waiting until after the season to find a college program that fits. He is 5-9, which makes things more difficult, at least for the narrow-minded college programs out there.

His GPA is around 3.65 and wants to study business. Shadowvine also has his own photography company and is getting into modeling, and gives inspirational talks to youth groups on YouTube.

“The first thing is putting me in a financial position. I’m not trying to pick just based on the school. The biggest thing is creating generational wealth for my family,” Shadowvine said. “Going into business and being able to profit off the game that I love. After that, a play style that allows me to be free and create plays for others.”

Richard Smith
Senior News Editor | Glendale & West Valley Preps

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.