Before the start of the Grand Canyon Region Tournament on Feb. 6, Mingus Union High School boys basketball coach Dave Beery instilled a bit of fear into his team in the form of a much-needed reminder.
A reminder that, despite the fact it had already picked up two wins against first-round opponent Bradshaw Mountain High School, the Marauders [14-19, 5-7 4A Grand Canyon] were not going to cruise to a third.
“We have five seniors, and they had to realize that if they didn’t perform, their season was done,” Beery said. “And for them [the Bears], they’re in the same exact boat. It was all about leaving everything on the floor.”
Mingus did just that, completing the season sweep with a 64-46 win. Officially, the Marauders do have one loss to Bradshaw Mountain by forfeit in their first matchup on Dec. 16, when a junior varsity player played more than the allotted six quarters of playing time for the day.
In the quarterfinals on Feb. 7, their next opponent was host and No. 1 seed Flagstaff High School, which they lost to 74-49.
But Mingus did start the game on the front foot, going up 11-2 in the first quarter. After that, according to Beery, between the players’ difficulty hitting shots and the Eagles’ defense, they could not score points.
Similar to the teams’ Jan. 6 matchup, the bigger Eagles team dominated on the boards.
“That was the most telling factor,” Beery said. “Their ability to rebound and our inability to keep them from rebounding.”
With the departure of seniors Chase Paquin, Victor Anaya, Jordan Pollock, Issac Escalante, Scott Wilson and Miles Tapija, there are plenty of minutes to go around for the up-and-coming Marauders.
The most seasoned returners will be sophomore guard Chaz Taylor and junior guard Michael Bryan.
“It’s going to be a big summer for us, we’ve got to work on a lot of skill development,” Beery said. “The door is wide open for kids that are hungry to take advantage and get good varsity minutes next year.”
Marauders on Grand Canyon All-Region Teams
First Team – Senior forward Miles Tapija
Second Team – Senior guard Issac Escalante
Senior guard Chase Paquin
Honorable Mention – Sophomore guard Chaz Taylor
