By Richard Smith
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Ironwood badminton placed two doubles teams on the podium at the Division II state finals Oct. 21 at Independence High School in Glendale.

They were not standing on the spots they wanted, and just missed recreating their practice battles as a state final. But two and three ain't bad.

"We were watching them all the time. When we were playing out doubles semifinals, I was looking over at them to see how they were doing, and my partner had to bring me back into the here and now, Ironwood junior Madison Nguyen said.

Eagles juniors Alyssa Ridgely and Sasha Tijore pushed top seeded senior Naiya Laux and freshman Lian Pan of Tempe Marcos de Niza in the semifinal before falling 21-19, 21-17. Ironwood's top doubles duo, senior Melanie Flores and Nguyen appeared to be figuring out Laux and Pan until the Padres duo reeled off eight of the final nine points in a 21-17 21-14 victory.

"I expected me and 'Scoot' and Melanie and Madison to get to the final. It was close. I thought we did really good," Tijore said. 

In the Division II singles bracket, Sunrise Mountain senior Hannah Winschel was making the most of her only state final appearance.

Saturday morning, the #6 seed upset #3 Sumedha Balwadgi of Chandler Arizona College Prep 24-22, 21-12. Then, Winschel staged a comeback to knock out #7 Emily Chang of Scottsdale Horizon 15-21, 21-16, 21-9.

"It's been crazy and I'm so surprised at myself. I dug deep and finished  so much better than I thought I would. I couldn't have done it without my coach and teammates," Winschel said. "I stopped hesitating (in that semifinal) and started to become more of an agressive player. I'm so proud of myself for even making it here. I'm over the moon."

Top seed Riley Crockett of Prescott proved too much in the final, though  Winschel did surprise the favorite by cutting her lead to 15-14 after Crockett raced to a 7-0 advantage in the first match.

Crockett reasserted her self and won 21-17, 21-4 to complete a 19-0 record in regular season and playoff matches.

"One thing Hannah is really great at is the mental game. She used to be a gymnast. I think because badminton is such a mental game, that's always been a strength," Sunrise Mountain coach Missy Carter said. "Her work ethic is unbelievable. She's a part of West-MEC so she comes to practice late every day and has to drive herself to away matches. She had to work through that. She didn't think she could beat some of the people along the way. She finally caught up to me in believing she's a top player. She's a great kid, a great students and she's always so nice to opponent."

Winschel said she's glad she put in all this work at badminton and at West-MEC, where she is studying veterinary sciences.

This was the first year for Ridgely and Tijore as a pair. The juniors are likely favorites on the doubles side next year.

They handled the Arizona College Prep team of Fatima Ahmed and Jing Liu 21-12, 21-15 to claim third place.

""It was really nice to be able to bouce back in that third place match. We could have a little celebration," Tijore said.

Flores and Nguyen reached the semifinals last year and were on a mission to reach the final this time.

They did so in dominant fashion, winning their quarterfinal 21-8, 21-16 and their semifinal 21-11, 21-3.

"This year was automatic as far as knowing what to do. Last year we had chemistry, but it wasn't as defined as it is now," Flores said. "In the final, digging ourselves such a big hole in the beginning really threw us off By the time we were able to move with the groove, it was too late. Looking at the bigger picture, it's really nice that we got that far. But being second place is the worst spot to be in because we were so close." 

These two teams and their players prowess in singles make Ironwood's undefeated record and its loss of only two points all regular season easier to understand.

Monday, the Eagles begin their quest to regain the Division II team titles after winning state in 2020 and 2021. #1 Ironwood hosts #16 Agua Fria at 4 p.m.

"It's great to see. When you look up at Division I or Division II, no one's got two teams up there except us," Ironwood coach Brett Stafford said. "They've busted their butts all year. They really deserve it, they've done a great job. It shows if you keep working at it, you'll get good."

Mountain Ridge senior Lilah Zafar placed fourth in the Division I singles.

Richard Smith
Associate Editor | Surprise & 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.