Camp Verde’s boys basketball team entered the 2A state playoffs with high aspirations. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, a trip to Yavapai College in Prescott for the second weekend of the tournament was not meant to be.
No. 7 Camp Verde got the weekend started in strong fashion, defeating No. 10 St. Augustine 70-44 in the Round of 16. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that didn’t spill into the next game and their season ended with a 64-56 loss to No. 2 Scottsdale Christian in the quarterfinals.
Second quarters proved key over the weekend for the Cowboys, which was good for Camp Verde in the game against St. Augustine. The two teams exchanged leads throughout the first quarter and into the early part of the second.
Ultimately, though, the Cowboys pace was too much for the Wolves as Camp Verde posted a dominant
27-10 quarter to effectively end the first game at halftime.
“Any time state games happen, they’re prepared for us and we’re prepared for them,” senior guard Jason Collier said. “We just had to be ready to go. It took us a second to get going but then we found our pace, it was all about pace.”
Collier got into foul trouble early in the game against St. Augustine and sat for parts of the first and second quarters. With their leading scorer sidelined, someone on the Cowboys had to step up. That person was sophomore guard Chino Salas-Zorrilla.
He scored nine points in the first quarter, all of which came on three-pointers.
“Gosh, his corner threes — I think all three of those were off of a corner three out of their pressure.” Camp Verde coach Dan Wall said. “That really changed the game. They had to go man on us and that really helped us a lot.”
Collier picked up the offense in the second quarter, scoring 11 points on his way to a team high 18 for the game. Salas-Zorrilla kept it coming, too, making two more three pointers to finish the half with 15 points. He finished the game with 17. Junior forward Mason Rayburn had nine points, while senior forward Coke Bast and sophomore
guard Devon James had eight points each.
The second quarter was a big difference maker in the quarterfinal game against Scottsdale Christian. Unfortunately for Camp Verde, that didn’t go nearly as well.
The Cowboys led 19-17 after the first quarter. But the Eagles came out strong in the second, outscoring Camp Verde 20-11 to take a 37-20 lead into halftime. The third quarter was more low scoring, but Scottsdale Christian still built on its lead, outscoring the Cowboys 11-9. Camp Verde got some punch back in the final quarter, scoring 17 points, but it wasn’t enough.
Collier led the way for the Cowboys, scoring 28 points. Salas-Zorilla had 11 while Rayburn had nine. The rest of the offense struggled though, with nobody else scoring more than four points.
A big difference in the two games can be found in the trips to the free-throw line. In the win over the Wolves, the Cowboys attempted 16 free throws, making 11 of them. That total was more than cut in half in the loss to the Eagles, with Camp Verde making six of only seven shots from the charity stripe. All of those were attempted by Collier.
Including the postseason, the Cowboys finished the season with a 24-6 record. They went 12-1 in 2A Conference play and Camp Verde’s 11-1 mark against 2A Central opponents tied Glendale Prep for the best record in the region, a tie which the Cowboys broke by virtue of a superior 2A Conference record.
“I’m very proud of these kids,” Wall said after the St. Augustine game. “I haven’t had any more fun coaching a group of kids than these ones right here.”
