Deer Valley, featuring Yaqui twins,
falls short in 4A title game

PHOENIX – The Deer Valley Skyhawks were looking to two-peat in last Thursday’s Arizona Interscholastic Association 4A boys basketball title game.

The undersized Skyhawks (20-4 overall) battled from an eight-point deficit late in third quarter and forced overtime against the St. Mary’s Knights (16-8) at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

The third-seeded Knights, however, closed the extra session on a 5-0 run and pulled away for an exciting 59-55 win over Deer Valley, a team that starts a pair of Native American twins in juniors Sergio and Simon Gonzales, who are members of the Yaqui tribe.

“These boys always fight, and we always got a chance because of their toughness and grit,” longtime Deer Valley coach Jed Dunn said of his team. “They’re not afraid of anyone and we knew it was going to be a battle to the very end.”

The Skyhawks entered the 4A playoffs as the fourth seed, but Dunn believed his team had the means to compete for another state championship trophy despite losing seven seniors last season.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Dunn said when asked about their finishing as the state runner-up team. “I’ve been here for 17 years and these boys are tough. It’s a credit to their parents and the school.”

And although St. Mary’s featured six players above 6-foot-6, including 6-11 junior Cameron Williams, the Deer Valley team didn’t seem to be fazed by that.

“On paper, we were probably the underdogs in this game because of what they had,” Dunn said. “It really didn’t matter to us. We felt like we had an advantage on the other end. These boys never go in thinking that we’re going to lose. That’s just the way we play, we’re tough.”

Williams, who finished with 30 points and 11 rebounds, was a beast for St. Mary’s as he had his way inside. Defensively, he had three blocks but he and his towering teammates altered a handful of shot attempts by Deer Valley.

Nonetheless, Sergio Gonzales managed to find some space to work with as he finished with a team-high 21 points on 6-of-17 shooting, which included a 3-of-11 effort from beyond the arc.

“They’re pretty big, but our main worries was playing defense and boxing out,” Sergio said. “We knew that if we played defense, our offense was going to come, so we were looking to box out and just defend.”

His twin brother, Simon, had a much tougher outing as he was held to six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

“Some of my shots weren’t falling but that’s how it is on certain night,” Simon said. “I just tried to give it my all because you don’t know when the last time you’ll play, so I felt like I left everything out there on the court.”

Other contributors for the Skyhawks included juniors Elias Riley and Carter Guggenberger as the pair added nine points apiece while senior Tyran Simpson added seven.

In OT, Sergio nailed a big 3 as Deer Valley closed a four-point deficit down to 54-53 with 1:21 left.

“I left a couple of them short, so that last 3 that I made, I told myself that I had to lift myself,” Sergio said.

That trey gave the Skyhawks some momentum as Riley added an inside bucket in Deer Valley’s next trip for a 55-54 edge with 45 seconds left.

St. Mary’s, however, scored the last five points with Williams completing an old-fashion 3-point play with 26.1 second left.

After a missed basket by Deer Valley, the Knights headed to the free throw line with junior Brody Postorino nailing a pair of clutch free throws to ice the game.

“I’m just super proud of the way we played,” Dunn said. “These guys have been here before. This is the third year in a row that we’ve played in a state championship game, so they know that you don’t stop playing until we hear the last buzzer.”

Later this spring, Deer Valley will be graduating four seniors as the Skyhawks will return 13, including the Gonzales twins, who will be seniors next season.

“Tyran Simpson plays the most, so that will be a big lost to replace,” Dunn said. “But all these boys are really spanking good. And the ones that didn’t get in tonight are really good. They can go to any school and play a lot at other places.”

“I really can’t wait for next year,” freshman guard Trey Wenk said. “A lot of these guys are returning and they’re my best friends and I’m just ready to go after it. I got three years left and I’m going to get back here again, but with a ‘W.’”

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