A greater commitment to defense and improved shooting by the Camp Verde High School boys basketball team was not enough as it fell in the second Verde Valley rivalry game of the season, 60-44, at Sedona Red Rock High School on Friday. Jan. 27.
Cowboys head coach Dan Wall said that his team [5-17, 1-5 2A Central] was conscious of the host Scorpions’ streaky scoring tendencies, but turnovers proved too troublesome for it. On Jan. 10 the Cowboys fell at home, 67-38, giving up 17 points off of turnovers.
“I knew that’s the toughest thing against Sedona, is they love to create turnovers and that allows them to get those easy buckets in transition,” Wall said. “Most of the game we did a pretty good job of handling the pressure, passing through it.”
Up 7-4 in the early going, Camp Verde succumbed to the first of three runs that proved to be the difference. Red Rock scored six straight points to take a 10-7 lead, four of those off of turnovers, in less than one minute.
However a six for 10 clip from the field kept the Cowboys in it, down 14-13 after the first quarter.
“We’ve been working on our shooting and our finishing for all year,” junior forward Ryan Loza said. “We’ve been working on it a lot more lately and just, yeah, we we’re feeling it a little more tonight.”
Things began to get out of hand during the second quarter, when the Scorpions went on an 11-3 run, including nine unanswered.
“Sedona is a team of runs, when they score, they score in bunches,” Wall said. “When you saw those runs that’s because, generally, we were turning the basketball over. They had some nice plays to steal and score. That’s what they do.”
By halftime, the deficit grew from one point to 11, down 31-20. Camp Verde shot just three for 10 in the quarter.
“It’s one area of the game you can work and work but you can’t control it when it happens,” Wall said. “You take the shots that are good shots, and hopefully they go down for you.”
Things were more controlled in the third quarter. Six points from senior guard Aaron Tracy and three from junior forward Ryan Loza fueled the team.
The Cowboys turned the ball over just four times, but the Scorpions’ rebounding limited their chances at scoring more. They trailed 44-31 after the third.
Three straight points to open the final frame put Camp Verde down only 10 with plenty of time to go, but another scoring run, this time 13-2, put the game out of reach.
“We knew if we gave a really consistent, good defensive effort all night long we’d at least be in the game with a shot,” Wall said. “We would’ve had to take care of it [the ball] tonight to really be in it at the end, but the kids played hard.”
Wall added that he hopes his team will maintain that mentality for its last two games of the season.
Loza mentioned that the Verde Valley rivalry always brings out a bit more energy from the team, and with the loss said that the team has got to prepare for next year’s edition.
Tracy led the Cowboys with 14 points and two rebounds while Loza contributed five points and four boards. Red Rock junior forward Wyatt Gregson led all scorers with 19 points.
Camp Verde played at Paradise Honors High School on Tuesday, Jan. 31, but results were unavailable at press time.
It will honor its four seniors for senior night before its 7 p.m. tip off on Friday, Feb. 3 against Northland Preparatory Academy.
