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CHANDLER - The offense of the Basha Bears proved to be just a bit less sluggish on Wednesday night.
Basha squeaked by the gritty defense of the Peoria Centennial Coyotes basketball team for a tough Open Division first round win.
In the fourth quarter, Centennial cut the Bears lead to single digits on a few occasions with time running down in the contest. At one point, the Bears were clinging to a six-point lead at 47-41 with 1:30 left in the fourth.
The #11 seed Bears hung on to beat #22 Centennial 53-48 in a tight game that went back and forth all night.
“It was a tough, physical game,” said Basha coach Michael Grothaus. “It was hard to find some rhythm.”
The Bears (23-4) will face region rival and #6 seed Brophy Prep (21-7) at 7 p.m. on Feb. 10 in Phoenix.
Basha freshman point guard Mason Magee didn’t blow everyone away on the stat sheet. But Magee was poised and collected throughout as the team’s primary ballhandler at home against a tough Coyotes defense.
Magee didn’t see much of the bench on Wednesday night despite committing several turnovers.
“He plays a lot,” Grothaus said. “...He’s a heck of a player.”
The Bears needed the standout guard to stabilize the offense in an up and down battle.
Magee finished with six points, four assists and four rebounds. He hit all four of his free throws. But the guard had six turnovers.
Junior wing Christian Warren finished with 15 points on 5-11 shooting. The wing also had four turnovers. Senior Torin Bosch had 17 points shooting 60% from the floor with two turnovers.
Centennial clamped down on defense for much of the game. On several occasions, the Coyotes' trap bogged down the offensive attack of the Bears.
With 5:26 left in the 2nd quarter, the Centennial trap forced Bears players to call for a timeout. At that point, the Bears led 16-11.
At halftime, the Bears led by a score of 26-18.
Several times Grothaus was up barking at his players — most of the time with his team leading.
Power forward Tyler Lalley committed a turnover with about 5:45 left in the third quarter.
Grothaus was up.
“Slow down,” the coach told the senior.
With 4:30 to go in the third, Grothaus was up again after his team got called for a backcourt violation.
“You gotta come up (to get the ball),” Grothaus told his players.
Centennial junior forward Gage Galbreath and Emery Young — a senior guard — were among the bright spots for the Coyotes.
Galbreath brought a ton of energy on both ends of the court.
Young made a few impressive plays including steal and a layup with about 1:39 left in the third quarter.
With 7:30 left in the fourth, Young hit a tough baseline jumper to cut the Bears’ lead to nine.
Now the Coyotes, led by first-year coach David Grace, re-enter the 5A bracket with a solid chance to defend its conference title.
Centennial will not be higher than the #2 seed in 5A behind North Canyon. And if teams like Ironwood, Campo Verde, Millennium, Desert Mountain and Notre Dame Prep lose in the second round of the Open Friday, those teams will nudge ahead of both North Canyon and Centennial in the 5A seedings.
Brent Ruffner Lead News Reporter | Daily Independent @AzNewsmedia
Journalism has fascinated Brent Ruffner since junior high school.
Since 2001, his stories have been published in newspapers from the Albuquerque to the Arizona and he has always had a knack for making sure his facts are right and his words are to the point.
Growing up, Brent watched as sports reporters covered his beloved Phoenix Suns, a team he followed since Charles Barkley first arrived in Phoenix via trade in 1992. Sports reporting was a dream back then.
But after gaining some writing experience, Brent found a love for news instead of covering different types of sports. In 2008, he moved to New Mexico and covered crime, schools and city beats all while holding elected officials accountable.
He covered stories that ranged from a DEA drug bust gone bad to an award-winning story on school lunches.
In Arizona, Brent was a freelance writer who covered everything from the importance of citrus in the state to Esteban owning a store in downtown Prescott.
Brent is a 2007 graduate of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University.