Coming to fruition: MV boys advance to 3A semis

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz.

The 1-2 punch of Albrandon Byjoe and Roberto Flores helped Monument Valley to a Final Four berth on Tuesday afternoon.

The two players combined for 67 points with Byjoe pouring in 40 while Flores chipping in 27 as the sixth-seed Mustangs beat No. 3 Coolidge 82-64 at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott, Arizona.

“They’ve been doing that all season,” the MV coach Randolph Gilmore said of his senior guards. “They both performed at the level we knew they could perform at, and we’re going to need that in our upcoming game.”

In other 3A playoff action, No. 5 Holbrook was on the wrong end of 49-46 loss to fourth seed Yuma Catholic.

The Roadrunners were ousted on a late trey by Yuma Catholic’s Sebi Patane with 1.2 seconds left.

Yuma Catholic plays top seed Chandler Valley Christian in the first semifinals Friday at 4:30 p.m. inside the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Valley Christian defeated No. 9 Gilbert Christian by a 63-43 count.

MV will take on No. 7 American Leadership Academy Ironwood at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. The championship game is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday in Phoenix.

“We haven’t made it this far in a while,” Byjoe said of its run in the 3A state playoffs. “It feels really good. Just being in this environment is pretty cool. It’s what me and my teammates wanted to experience ever since our middle school years.

“It’s finally happening,” he added.

Gilmore said the last time MV has played in a Final Four game was in 2011 when assistant coach Perry Francis was the head coach.

“It’s been a while,” Gilmore said, while noting that this is what they’ve been preparing for since last season’s playoff loss to Coolidge.

“We set a bunch of team goals and this is one of them,” he said, “but we’re not done yet.”

Flores said the team’s hard work is coming to fruition as the Mustangs is seeking its fourth state title and seventh appearance in a state title game.

“We want to keep going and keep our eyes on the prize,” Flores said. “I just hope we get all the way to the big stage, and play in the championship game.”

To reach the semis, MV opened up a 13-3 advantage and never looked back with Byjoe scoring the first seven and Flores hitting two treys.

“I think the good start just built our momentum,” Byjoe said. “Our mindset was just to dominate and that is what we did.”

Coolidge cut the margin down to single digits at the end of the opening quarter, but MV ramped up its defense and led 37-20 on a two-point basket from Flores with 3:40 left in the first half.

In the second half, MV’s lead hovered around 20 points as Coolidge could not get into a rhythm.

Byjoe said the team’s stymie defense played a big hand in that.

“We just locked down on our defense,” Byjoe said. “We kept them from going into the paint, and the shots they (attempted) weren’t falling, so that was a good advantage for us.”

Gilmore agreed and the one thing he harped on before the contest was playing a complete game.

“We had to play four quarters of basketball from start to finish,” he said. “I thought that we did that today.”

The MV coach said they’re going to look over film and get a better understanding of how AIA Ironwood plays.

“We have to look over some stuff, but the thing we talk about is mental toughness,” he said. “We had to stay mentally tough with Coolidge and not let them get to our heads.”

Holbrook

The Roadrunners were involved in slugfest with Yuma Catholic as the contest featured eight ties and five lead changes.

Holbrook saw its season come to a close with Yuma Catholic’s Sebi Patane nailing a fade away 3 just as time expired.

“That kid hit a heck of a shot,” Holbrook coach Delmar Johnson said. “That was a deep 3. Honestly, it was great defense. I mean, he stepped back another two feet behind the line, the NBA line, and he just made a heck of a shot.

“All I can do is tip my hat off to Yuma Catholic,” he added. “They did what they had to do, and they played the game the way they wanted to play.”

Johnson said his club played at Yuma Catholic’s tempo instead of its up-and-down game.

“We didn’t get out in transition like the way we wanted to,” he said. “But overall, I’m happy with the way the season went the last two years.”

According to Johnson, the Holbrook team went 25-5 overall in both seasons.

“To win 50 of 60 games the last two years is a great accomplishment for the nine seniors that we had on this team,” he said. “I’m just very thankful, and I’m thankful that our fans showed up.”

Senior Noah Brown led Holbrook with a dozen points while Tyler Tapaha added nine.

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