Photo by Jack Sperco '11 - James Harper '12 goes in for a lay up March 3 against Mesa in the 5A-1 state semi-final game. The Broncos won 96-82.
Brophy 96
Mesa 82
By Justin Janssen ’11
THE ROUNDUP
Brophy (21-7) overcame a 58 point explosion by Jahii Carson March 3 in the semifinals vs. Mesa (21-6) and is one win away from capturing their first ever basketball championship.
“We’re looking to hang a banner in the gym,” said James Harper ’12, who led Brophy with 21 points, “We worked hard all season long and it’s going to pay off tomorrow.”
The Broncos countered Carson and Mesa with offensive sparks of their own.
They scored a season best 96 points, 24 more than their previous season high and equaled their season scoring average in the second half alone with 59 points.
Carson’s eruption was all part of the plan. “Our objective was to let Jahii go off and not let anyone else beat us,” Harper said.
In the regular season, the Jackrabbits defeat Brophy twice, but in the semifinals Mesa never led.
Fred Gammage ’12 scored 21 points despite suffering his fourth foul a few seconds after halftime.
Six players in the game could not remain for its entirety; a total of five fouled out and Mesa’s head coach was ejected.
Photo by Jack Sperco '11 - Brophy students cheer on the Broncos March 3 in the 5A-1 semi-final basketball game against Mesa. Brophy won 96-82.
Sai Tummala ’11 scored 17 points and recorded 10 rebounds with a slam dunk in the remaining minutes of the game.
Jordan Medl ’12 had a game-high 13 rebounds and also scored 13 points.
Brophy will get a chance to win their first ever basketball championship March 4 vs. Mesa Mountain View at Jobing.com arena. Tipoff is slated for 8:00 PM.
The last time the Broncos made the state championship game was in 2001.
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