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First Quarter Pleasant surprise as the members of the  University of Arizona Basketball team is in attendance. Lj Diamond has the ball and drives the lane for the basket. The Badgers first possession is a miss by Patrick Flores rebounded by Dane Montague. LJ Diamond again with the bucket. Pumas lead 4-0. Tavion Okougbo with a three off the pass from Jaykan Knight. Pumas miss by Dane Montague rebounded by Nitai Buchler going the other way. Malaki Cunnigham-Hiadzi with the layu

As you may know The Hoopers Club post Dunks of the Week every week to showcase the elite talent and athletic ability in the state of Arizona. With the year coming to an end and all that is left is the championship games i would like to put it up for vote for who you think has the Dunk of the Year. I have hand selected the top 14 dunks from this year that i think can have a shot of being number 1. All you have to do is watch all the dunks then vote for who you think has the be

Column For someone who covers basketball as much as I do, no day excites me quite as much as championship Saturday for the small schools at the coliseum. It is the experience you see in movies or read in books, a small town traveling for hours on end to a cathedral where one team gives hope for the future with its present success. Tribes traveled from different corners of the state to Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum to cheer on Window Rock, Page, and Tuba City. While frequent sma

Following a special executive board meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board has voted to kick the Coolidge Bears out of the 3A boys basketball postseason and placed the athletic department on probation according to sources. This comes following the Bears quarterfinal victory over Chinle high school on February 20th where reports surfaced that Chinle players were called racially abusive names and were spat on by Coolidge fans aft

Tony Bayigamba #9 in PPG With the regular season all wrapped up i would like to acknowledge the top 10 stat leaders in each major stat category in each major conference. Now unfortunately not all teams put in stats so this will be based of teams that have stats entered in Maxpreps. I would like to congratulate all the young men who had great years and are featured on this list. Stats are not everything and do not tell the whole story but they do give a good insight on a playe

These award winners were selected by the NextUpAZ team of Delon Bowen, Spencer Goldberg, Gregg Rosenberg, Aaron Villa, John Millyard, Cedric Cobb Sr., and Jacob Seliga. The players selected were ultimately nominated by the NextUp team at the end of January and beginning of February through the final regular season contests on February 12. The awards are strictly based off regular season performance and postseason recognition will take place following the state championships.

With the regular season all wrapped up i would like to acknowledge the top 10 stat leaders in each major stat category in each major conference. Now unfortunately not all teams put in stats so this will be based of teams that have stats entered in Maxpreps. I would like to congratulate all the young women who had great years and are featured on this list. Stats are not everything and do not tell the whole story but they do give a good insight on a player and what they are cap

Andrew Evans Stat Leader in PPG #8 RPG #3 DD #1 With the regular season all wrapped up i would like to acknowledge the top 10 stat leaders in each major stat category in each major conference. Now unfortunately not all teams put in stats so this will be based of teams that have stats entered in Maxpreps. I would like to congratulate all the young men who had great years and are featured on this list. Stats are not everything and do not tell the whole story but they do give a

With the regular season all wrapped up i would like to acknowledge the top 10 stat leaders in each major stat category in each major conference. Now unfortunately not all teams put in stats so this will be based of teams that have stats entered in Maxpreps. I would like to congratulate all the young women who had greats years and are featured on this list. Stats are not everything and do not tell the whole story but they do give a good insight on a player and what they are ca

Scaren Usate stat leader in Double Doubles #9 and Rebounds Per Game #8 With the regular season all wrapped up i would like to acknowledge the top 10 stat leaders in each major stat category in each major conference. Now unfortunately not all teams put in stats so this will be based of teams that have stats entered in Maxpreps. I would like to congratulate all the young men who had greats years and are featured on this list. Stats are not everything and do not tell the whole s

The worst kept secret in Arizona high school basketball was on full display in North Phoenix on Friday night. The rumor had already been going for weeks, a team that did not want to try to make the elite eight of the open division would do everything in its power to avoid it. A few weeks ago, just as the regular season ended, multiple coaches had disclosed privately their intentions of not giving a true effort to making the final eight due to not feeling like they stood a cha

First Quarter Gilbert Christian gets the opening tip and misses the three point shot. Kameron Pippen gets the rebound but Palo Verde misses the layup attempt. GC passes the ball out of bounds, possession back to the Titans. Kristian White makes the tough layup and draws the foul. He sinks the free throw. 3-0 Titans. Kamaiu Ortiz gets a steal and makes the shot. Rashad Ortiz comes away with another steal for the titans and again Kristian white draws a foul. He misses the first

On Friday, Feb 20th I watched the Copper playoff match-up of 2A  San Tan Charter Roadrunners  taking on 2A  Phoenix Country Day Eagles  in the semi finals. PCD started fast with a 18-7 1st quarter lead with JD Jones and Jadd Agha playing about as well as you can play as they were clicking on all cylinders. They continued their hot play and held a 28-17 halftime lead. Jones and Agha were rolling. As teams spend 10 minutes resting up at halftime, the coaches tweak and adjust

Column Let me preface this by saying this… This season of girls basketball may very well be the most exciting year I’ve seen while I’ve been around the sport the last six years, however it’s that excitement that has played a large role in why I haven’t covered the sport as much as I have in previous years. The end of 2025 and beginning of 2026 has been a state of transition for me. I got married, my day job has allowed me to take on new roles, and I’ve spent a lot of time tr

It’s Senior Night for the #13 Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks as the host the #25 Mica Mountain Thunderbolts. First Quarter Ironwood Ridge controls the tip.Three point attempt misses rerbounded by Mica Mountain. Mica misses on a three point attempt and the Nighthawks regain possession, Henry Matus makes a layup for the first points of the game. Jack Andrews scores it for Mica and it is 2-2. Henry Matus finds Dalton Yarmolovich at the top for a three and he knocks it down. The Night

With the AIA regular season entering the final two weeks, the race to the end is expected to be one of the most exciting finishes the association has ever seen. Playoff seeding and region titles are on the line and leading the way are the talented athletes on the court fighting for 32 minutes a game for a chance to help their teams. In the 4A conference, much of the attention has been focused on the top of the conference as regions such as the Desert Sky possess multiple cham

With the AIA regular season entering the final two weeks, the race to the end is expected to be one of the most exciting finishes the association has ever seen. Playoff seeding and region titles are on the line and leading the way are the talented athletes on the court fighting for 32 minutes a game for a chance to help their teams. For the 5A conference, the season has been a referendum on what people expect year in and year out from the schools battling within the conferenc

With the AIA regular season entering the final two weeks, the race to the end is expected to be one of the most exciting finishes the association has ever seen. Playoff seeding and region titles are on the line and leading the way are the talented athletes on the court fighting for 32 minutes a game for a chance to help their teams. In the 6A conference, the battle for potential awards is highlighted by arguably the most talented group in the history of the state with dozens

Welcome back hoop fans to another edition of The Hoop Report. Basketball season is coming to a close as just two weeks remain in the regular season and with that means the stress from both players and coaches alike is at an all-time fever pitch. Some teams are coming closer together while others are splintering but one thing is for certain, the intensity of each matchup grows the closer the schedule gets to February 12th. In the meantime, with the regular season dying down th

Wednesday night was more than just a showdown between two 6A Central region foes, it was an ode to not just the state but rather the country that Arizona is in its golden era for hoops. In front of a sold out crowd in north Phoenix, the No. 4 team in the country faced off against the No. 6 team in the country. For many years most would’ve assumed that the valley would once again be hosting a premier out of state event such as Hoophall West. However, this time around for the f