By Mason Byers
Staff Writer
Holiday time means many basketball tournaments and out-of-state teams coming to play some of the top Arizona teams.
That happened on Saturday when the Rancho Solano Prep Mustangs defeated the St. Johns Spartans out of Florida, 57-38. The Mustangs are looking to get another 2A championship and will look to build off this win.
The game didn’t start easy for the Mustangs though as they had early struggles on the offensive end. St. Johns made it hard for Rancho Solano Prep to get to the rim so the Mustangs had to settle for many three-point attempts that didn’t find the bottom of the net.
The Spartans took an early lead off the backs of their freshman guard Camden Cooper, who nailed a deep three-point shot on the right wing early into the contest. Rancho Solano Prep would end up finding life though late in the first half. Their senior guard Matthew Quinlan would score seven straight points including a corner three to give the Mustangs the lead late into the first half.
Their lead wouldn’t last long because once again for St. Johns, Cooper made sure to keep the game close. Before the end of the first half, he would make two athletic layups which resulted in fouls both times, and he would make both of the free throws. With the two and-ones, the game was tied 17-17 heading into halftime.
The longtime head coach for Rancho Solano Prep, Aaron Trigg, knew his team had a much better half of basketball in front of them.
“Once we settled in, played inside out, got the ball to the paint, and then got kickouts, then we were able to settle in,” Trigg said. “We weren’t quite as rushed, we were in rhythm a little bit more.”
A flurry of three-pointers fell for the Mustangs in the second half, including two back-to-back three-point shots made by senior guard Andrew Willis. Rancho Solano Prep was able to get a hot start in the second half, in which the Mustangs saw their lead grow over time.
They already scored 20 points in the second half less than five minutes into it, showing their halftime adjustments worked well.
One of the main reasons for it was Quinlan. He ended up finishing the second half with four three-pointers, and 22 points total in the game over St. Johns. However, he credits their defense, and getting multiple steals for his team as one of the main reasons they were able to get so many open looks on offense.
“In the second half we reversed the ball, attacked the rim and we got open shots,” Quinlan said. “Our defense was our offense today.”
The dagger of the game came when Quinlan got another steal which led to a fastbreak layup and ultimately put the game out of reach. The Mustangs were too much in the second half due to their offensive explosion and that is why they dominated in that second half.
These tournaments are great for finding out what a team is made of before they get ready for a playoff push, and Trigg is ready to find out what his team is and how they can fix their weaknesses heading into 2025.
“We’ll learn a lot about our team this week, it will give us a chance to find our weaknesses and find areas to get better in the second half of the season,” Trigg said. “Proud of the way we’re playing hard and competing hard, if we can continue to do that we’ll have a good chance.”
Comments