Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

As it was in the last two rounds of the playoffs, Deer Valley was on the ropes and fought back in Tuesday's 5A boys basketball final.

The difference this time was, the Skyhawks would need to play a near-perfect fourth quarter to beat the defending state champion. Phoenix Sunnylope started the third quarter with a 12-0 run to grab a commanding 32-19 lead less than five minutes into the second half.

Deer Valley fought almost all the way back in the next nine minutes of game time, drawing within two points (35-33) on junior forward Brandon Savage's leaner with 2:47 remaining.

But the Vikings returned all five starters from their 2017 champions, and guard Bryson Mehwinney exemplified that poise, taking time off the clock, then driving for a layup with 2:10 left. Senior forward Kyle Fischer then made the play of the game, stealing a pass near the Skyhawks' foul line and racing back for his own layup and a 39-33 advantage at the 1:49 mark.

No. 2 seed Sunnyslope (27-5) made all six of its free throws from there to hold off No. 1 Deer Valley (26-4) 45-35.

"In transition, Kyle's so deadly. He can get the rebound and just take off and use his speed and length to finish. We got some nice threes in transition to kind of open that door in the third quarter. To their credit, Jed's got a great ball club over there and they never gave up. It could have went either way," Sunnyslope coach Ray Portela said. "Bryson and Kyle are two of our guys that can finish it and it showed tonight. Those two guys are talented individuals."

Sunnyslope started the first two quarters in control, but Deer Valley never let the deficit grow too large.

Senior forward Chris Orozco's three-point play built a 9-3 Vikings lead midway through the first. But Diaz hit a corner trey and freshman Jackson Leyba - in his first action of the playoffs - converted a three-point play to tie it at 11 after one.

Bryson Mehwinney's three and Orozco's two free throws were the only scoring in the first four minutes of the second quarter. After Fischer extended the lead to 18-12, Diaz responded with another triple and Breckner drove end to end to cut the deficit to one.

Senior guard Terrance Gilder scored, then Deer Valley went into its delay offense for the final minute of the half, and it worked as Davis scored on a baseline drive to make the halftime score 20-19 Sunnyslope.

"(Davis) did some damage against us in the first half. We knew they were going to get the ball to him again," Portela said. "We had been practicing all week playing off and doubling down in the post and making somebody else beat us besides him."

Deer Valley's Bryce Davis (#24) makes a layup against Sunnyslope in a 5A Championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]So the double- and triple-teams intensified on Davis in the third quarter. And the veteran Vikings recovered quickly enough to deflect passes or discourage the Skyhawks from shooting threes.

They forced four of the top seed's nine total turnovers in the third quarter, which keyed the 12-0 run.

Senior guard Jaran Whitfield made his only basket of the night count, beginning the second half by sinking a three. Senior guard Alan Abayev and Fischer added baskets and Mehwinney hit a triple.

Fischer's layup made it 32-19 and the Skyhawks faced the daunting task of trying to speed up or turn over the defending champs.

Deer Valley coach Jed Dunn found a counter for the overplaying defense, having Savage drift to the baseline on the opposite side of Davis.

Diaz and senior point guard Deven Breckner found the lanky junior for layups to trim the deficit to 32-24 after three quarters.

"We have so many guys that can do different things. Sometimes (Savage) will be in and I'll forget a little bit about him because you have the (Allen) twins and sometimes you want to go to guards. But Brandon was unbelievable in the second half for us," Dunn said. "He plays well off of Bryce and he's really good paired with Johnny."

Breckner found Savage inside again to start the fourth. Following a Fischer free throw, Davis sank a jump hook and Diaz drained his third trey of the night.

Suddenly, it was 33-31 with more than four minutes remaining. Breckner forced a jump ball, but the arrow pointed Sunnyslope's way.

The Vikings shaved some time while Deer Valley fouled twice to force a one-and-one situation. Mehwinney made both - he would finish with a game-high 14 points.

Savage scored again to get within two.

"When I came off the bench we were struggling really hard and we needed a spark. Everybody was down and I just wanted to be that spark," Savage said.

But in this game, the team that could grab a lead of more than one possession would have a huge advantage  which Sunnyslope did entering the final 90 seconds up six.

Both teams have veteran guard that are hard to press and smart enough to run time off the clock in a stall offense.

"They made it tough but I knew my guys would fight back. We cut it to two and had chances," Dunn said.

The finals loss was painful for the greatest team of Dunn's 10-year tenure at the Glendale school.

However, after entering the season without a playoff win, this group lived up to its preseason billing. Deer Valley was the only team to beat the Vikings on their home court this season - a 55-52 win Nov. 24 in the final of Sunnyslope's season-opening tournament.

While Sunnyslope responded with a convincing win a month later at Deer Valley, the Skyhawks ended up being the only 5A team that could make the Vikings sweat in their repeat drive.

"I'm proud of my boys," Dunn said. "I'm even more proud of them for who they are off the court."

Deer Valley's Devon Breckner (#3) attempts a layup against Sunnyslope in a 5A Championship game on Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2018 at Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Sunnyslope     11  9  12  13 – 45

Deer Valley      11  8    5 11 – 35

BOX SCORE

Sunnyslope – Bryson Mewhinney 14 points, 3 assists; Kyle Fischer 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals; Chris Orozco 7 points, 4 rebounds; Terrance Gilder 4 points; Jaran Whitfield 3 points, 4 rebounds; Allan Abrayev 2 points, 2 steals; Zach Paloma 2 points, 3 rebounds.

Deer Valley – Johnny Diaz 11 points; Bryce Davis 8 points, 7 rebounds; Brandon Savage 8 points; Deven Breckner 4 points, 3 assists; Keyvaughn Williams 3 rebounds, 2 steals; Jackson Leyva 3 points; Ari Danzy 1 point, 3 rebounds, 2 assists; ; Jaret Allen 2 rebounds.