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WEST VALLEY PREPS
Sunrise Mountain girls uses defense, free throws to squeeze by Casteel
Posted
By George Witkowski
Thursday night at Sunrise Mountain’s gymnasium was one in which you could have cut the tension with a knife.
The Casteel-Sunrise Mountain girls 5A quarterfinal game went down to the final minute with one point separating the two schools.
Mustangs freshman Reena Bhakta hit two free throws, but Casteel had two chances to tie with a three-point shot. Both were missed and the Sunrise Mustangs (24-3) came away with a 47-44 win over Queen Creek Casteel (18-10).
Coupled with #3 seed Cactus Shadows Falcons’ 64-44 win over the #6 Buena Colts (20-5), second-seeded Sunrise Mountain will host Cactus Shadows in a semifinal 7 p.m. Feb. 26.
Sunrise Mountain coach Jenn Tolle was happy her team did not lose its composure down the stretch.
“We just stayed focused and at some points of the night we had two freshmen and two sophomores out there,” Tolle said. “We just say, ‘make the next play.’”
Sunrise’s 10-player roster consists of two seniors, one junior, three sophomores and four freshmen.
“Players were blocking shots, clogging lanes and I think they’re really excited about getting to the semifinals,” Tolle said.
The last time Sunrise Mountain went to the 4A semifinals was 2006. Tolle has been coaching for eight years and she said this is her best season.
Making this the best year possible was an important goal for the program, after it made the 5A quarterfinals last year.
“It was a goal they set for themselves and tonight was a huge team effort,” she said.
Sunrise had leads of 37-26 in the third quarter and 41-30 with 6:58 left in the fourth quarter. However, leads can evaporate at any level of basketball and Casteel coach Daniel Trageser knows.
When Sunrise built their 11-point leads in the second half, Trageser did not want his team to fold under the pressure of Sunrise Mountain’s home crowd.
“That’s what we told our kids when we were down by 11, we set a two-minute run to get back,” Trageser said. “They’re a well-coached team and it’s a shame somebody had to lose.”
The previous Casteel team got to the Final Four was as a #12 seed last yeat before losing to eventual champion Millennium.
Trageser was proud of his team’s composure throughout the season.
“We had 90 missed games because of injuries and it was a tremendous game for the team,” he said.
