If Friday, Jan. 8, was Camp Verde High School senior Javier Perez’s last boys basketball game against rival Sedona Red Rock High School, his teammates owe him one more opportunity.
Although Perez led all scorers with 27 points, the rest of the Cowboys [3-6] scored just 16, falling by 17 points at home to the Scorpions, 60-43.
With the girls [4-5] falling under .500 with their earlier 47-35 loss, the CVHS basketball teams were swept at home in their Section I opener by their cross-Verde Valley rival, each suffering their second straight Division IV defeat.
After visiting Chino Valley High School on Tuesday, Jan. 12, both girls and boys teams will need to step up their contributions to the scorebook in order to overcome Round Valley High School on Friday, Jan. 15, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Boys Basketball
An additional sectional challenge Thursday, Jan. 14, at Alchesay High School awaits head coach Dan Wall’s boys — who, unlike in a back-and-forth five-point loss Dec. 17 at SRRHS, led the Scorpions just once in their rematch.
“We, obviously, were not perfect defensively,” Wall said. “But, yeah, it was tough finding a way to put the ball in the basket.”
That lead came 70 seconds into the second quarter, when Perez stole a pass intended for Scorpions forward Hayden Bruce and laid it in for a 15-14 lead.
“I’m confident that, as we move forward, some of those other guys will rise to the top and start figuring out what we need from them,” Wall said. “In practice, we’ve got to go one possession at a time and really focus on those little things, such as rebounding, the ability to finish down the lane under pressure, [and] hit an open jump shot.”
Fellow SRRHS sophomore Sebastian Morales, who made Perez work for his 27 — a three-year low in the rivalry for the shooting guard — quickly responded with a baseline three-point shot to retake the lead by two points.
“I felt like our effort was really good,” Wall said. “But the second-chance points, especially in the second half, hurt us a lot.”
Two-and-a-half minutes later, Perez tied the game with free throws, 19-19, which he would do again with three minutes to play before halftime. But the Scorpions went on a 6-0 run after Perez went to the bench with his second foul. Wall was forced to bring Perez back in less than a minute later, but he could only close the gap to 27-23 at the half.
“We got good looks that just didn’t go down — that happens,” Wall said. “You have nights like that.
“We didn’t execute our half-court offense as well as I’d like, and we weren’t able to get out in transition as much due to us not rebounding the basketball. So those three things really hurt us on the offensive side of the floor, for sure.”
With 3:56 to play in the third quarter, Perez, who had already been walking a tightrope after being called for his third foul pushing off on a drive, was whistled for his fourth attempting to block a driving layup by SRRHS junior Dawson Stevenson.
“It kind of messed me up with that charge,” Perez said. “With that fourth foul, I’ve got to play very smart — a lot smarter than I did. If I don’t, I’m costing the team.”
With Perez sidelined the rest of the period, the Scorpions built a 45-36 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“That was huge — obviously a game-changer,” Wall said. “I felt like our defensive intensity dropped just a little bit.”
Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Wall re-inserted Perez again. But he mustered just six points the rest of the way, supported by a lone free throw from sophomore Ryan Loza, as the Scorpions asserted themselves on the offensive and defensive glass.
“We did good until the last quarter, when we allowed second-chance points,” Perez said. “When we get bigger guys on us, instead of trying to outjump them, just push them out.”
Loza and senior Thomas Herrera each scored four, while the only other CVHS scoring came from junior Ryan Cain’s three points.
“We do score if we want to, but I want somebody else that can score as well,” Perez said. “We’ve struggled with that, going one-on-one the last couple games.”
Girls Basketball
After a 16-0 start the first 6:40, SRRHS ran away and hid from the Cowboys.
The Scorpions defense found senior Gabby Ontiveros after she burned them Dec. 17 for six three-point shots and 21 points in a 53-45 road win.
“Sedona took Gabby away,” said Mark Showers, CVHS head girls coach. “They didn’t give her easy shots.”
Ontiveros was still the leading scorer for the Cowboys with 15 points on four three-pointers, but her first trifecta was the only first-quarter mark in the CVHS scorebook.
“We had a couple of defensive miscues that cost us,” Showers said. “We missed some easy shots under the basket, so you put those couple of things together — different game.”
Senior Allee Drake had five and freshman Marissa Presmyk added two free throws, combining for the seven post points CVHS would score on the night.
“We were able to get the ball inside [and] go hard to the basket,” he said. “We executed pretty well. But we didn’t finish.”
The Cowboys continue to miss senior post Dusty Dowdle, sidelined for most of the season so far with a knee injury.
Although she was in uniform Jan. 8, she was not dressed in game shoes, and Showers would give no timeline on any possible return.
Junior forwards Kayla Hackett and Nieja Garner added seven points each for the Cowboys.
“Our kids, at times, played hard,” Showers said. “Throughout most of the third quarter, they played very well. Then we kind of lost a little bit of our momentum in the fourth quarter.”
For the Camp Verde High School boys basketball results from its holiday tournament, please see the Wednesday, Jan. 13, issues of the Camp Verde Journal and Cottonwood Journal Extra.
