By Mountain Pointe wasted no time punching their ticket to the AIA 6A state tournament Final Four, by rolling through Chandler 76-48 in the quarterfinals. It was all MP from start to finish, on both sides of the ball. “We felt good coming off of 2 solid practices,” Coach Eason said. “The guys executed the offense and defense well, and that is going to help you win alot of games.
The Pride’s defense held the Wolves to 48 points, but they worked hard for those points. The full court pressure and half court man and zone defenses paid big dividends for MP, forcing turnovers and missed contested shots. Those turnovers and misses turned into fast break points for the Pride. “We are athletic, so getting out in transition is important part of what we need to do.” Eason added.
Offensively, Mountain Pointe was led by seniors Amarion Cash (16 points, 5 rebounds) and Ryan Pate (15 points, 5 threes). In the 3rd quarter, Amarion threw down a monster dunk, which seemed to totally demoralize Chandler. “We’ve been waiting all year for him to make a play like that.” Eason said.
Junior point guard Khalid Price (12 points, 5 assists) managed the Pride offense all game, getting his teammates the ball where they wanted it. At the same time, the bigs, Jalen Graham (12 points and 9 rebounds) and DeAndre Henry (6 points and 8 rebounds) held down the post.
The Pride added to their school record for single season wins, with their 25th win, and now are preparing to face Brophy Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Arena. Come out and support the boys, as they move closer to the 6A Finals.
Mountain Pointe Basketball 