ARCHIVES 2009

#	PLAYER	HEIGHT	WEIGHT	CLASS
12	Kody Boyle	5'9"	130	Junior	PROFILES
15	Vince Guido	5'9"	145	Sophomore
21	Michael Holden	5'10"	155	Senior
22	Eric Donzella	6'0"	165	Senior
23	Dominique Long	6'1"	165	Junior
24	Francisco Ahumada	6'4"	185	Senior
30	Austin James	6'3"	170	Junior
32	Shawn King	6'4"	190	Junior
33	Elliott Clark	6'0"	180	Senior
42	Seth Taylor	6'4"	185	Senior
44	Matt Alvarado	6'2"	205	Junior

STAFF		TEAM COLORS: BLACK & GOLD MASCOT: TIGERS
Head Coach	Jay Caserio
Assistant Coach	Justin Hastings
Assistant Coach	Gordon Rutledge
Manager	Amaji Onyi
Video	Cassandra Kennedy
Statistics	Tommy Lemmons
ADMINISTRATION
Principal	Dr. J. Charles Santa Cruz
Athletic Director	Steve McDowell
Athletic Secretary	Dayna Sheets
LOCATION
1101 E. Elliot Rd. ● Gilbert, AZ 85296 Phone ● (480) 497-0177 Ext. 169

2008-09 VARSITY SCHEDULE

NOVEMBER		TIME	LOCATION	OPPONENT	RESULT	RECORD
11/25	Tuesday	7:45	Tourney	Dobson - Mesa Invitational	W 68 - 63	1 - 0
11/26	Wednesday	6:15	Tourney	Desert Vista - Mesa Invitational	W 52 - 42	2 - 0
11/29	Saturday	7:00	Tourney	Mesa High - Mesa Invitational	W 56 - 44	3 - 0
DECEMBER		TIME	LOCATION	OPPONENT	RESULT	RECORD
12/02	Tuesday	7:00	Away	Mesa	W 57 - 49	4 - 0
12/04	Thursday	7:00	Home	Marana Mountain View	W 54 - 46	5 - 0
12/05	Friday	7:00	Away	Corona Del Sol	W 66 - 61	6 - 0
12/09	Tuesday	7:00	Home	Buena	W 61 - 55	7 - 0
12/15	Monday	7:00	Away	Desert Ridge	W 57 - 43	8 - 0
12/19	Friday	7:30	Tourney	PUHSD - Alhambra	W 77 - 41	9 - 0
12/20	Saturday	TBA	Tourney	PUHSD - Barry Goldwater	W 56 - 37	10 - 0
12/22	Monday	TBA	Tourney	PUHSD - Cesar Chavez	L 60 - 66	10 - 1
12/23	Tuesday	TBA	Tourney	PUHSD - Diamond Ranch	L 58 - 69	10 - 2
JANUARY		TIME	LOCATION	OPPONENT	RESULT	RECORD
01/06	Tuesday	7:00	Home	Basha	W 60 - 58	11 - 2
01/09	Friday	7:00	Home	South Mountain	W 49 - 44	12 - 2
01/13	Tuesday	7:00	Away	Chandler*	L 54 - 64	12 - 3
01/15	Thursday	7:00	Away	St. Mary's	L 46 - 72	12 - 4
01/16	Friday	7:00	Home	Hamilton*	W 45 - 40	13 - 4
01/20	Tuesday	7:00	Home	Desert Vista	L 38 - 57	13 - 5
01/23	Friday	7:00	Away	Highland*	L 57 - 65	13 - 6
01/27	Tuesday	7:00	Home	Mesquite*	L 47 - 54	13 - 7
01/30	Friday	7:00	Home	Chandler*	W 81 - 76	14 - 7
FEBRUARY		TIME	LOCATION	OPPONENT	RESULT	RECORD
02/03	Tuesday	7:00	Away	Hamilton*	W 53 - 47	15 - 7
02/06	Friday	7:00	Away	Mesa Mountain View	L 54 - 71	15 - 8
02/10	Tuesday	7:00	Home	Highland*	L 51 - 59	15 - 9
02/13	Friday	7:00	Away	Mesquite*	L 55 - 73	15 - 10
				POST SEASON
02/17	Tuesday	7:45	Fiesta Region	Hamilton	L 44 - 58	15 - 11
02/26	Thursday	7:00	State-Round 1	Cesar Chavez	W 68 - 67	16 - 11
02/26	Thursday	7:00	State-Round 2	Mesquite	W 75 - 72	17 - 11
03/04	Wednesday	7:45	State-Round 3	Highland	L 57 - 64	17 - 12
SPECIAL EVENTS
*	Denotes Fiesta Region Game
01/30	Parents Night
02/10	Senior Night
02/17	Fiesta Region Tournament Starts
02/23	State Tournament Starts

2008-09 GAME RECAPS

●●●GILBERT - HIGHLAND●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #29- March 04, 2009
Gilbert State run ends

After 16 minutes of basketball, not much was going right for top-seeded Gilbert Highland.

Point guard Matt Carlino was less than 100 percent, shooting guard Nick Johnson was in foul trouble and Gilbert was knocking down shots.

But the Hawks came out energized in the second half, erased a nine-point halftime deficit and came away with a 64-57 win over Gilbert in the 5A-I semifinals on Wednesday at Jobing.com Arena.

“We basically just told them, you’ve got 16 minutes to save your season,” Highland coach Mark Carlino said.

Highland will play No. 2 Phoenix St. Mary’s in the state championship on Saturday at Jobing.com Arena, a game that many wanted to see happen.

The Hawks trailed by eight points with 4:20 left in the third quarter, but went on a 15-4 run to take the lead.

The game stayed close in the fourth quarter, and a 3-pointer by Shawn King cut Highland’s lead to 55-54 with 3:05 left.

Highland didn’t falter, closing the game on a 9-3 run. Carlino hit a 3-pointer directly following King’s, and the Tigers didn’t get closer than two points the rest of the way.

It was a defensive trap that ignited the third quarter run.

“That’s what sparked us,” K.C. Toolson said. “We started getting the momentum back and that’s when we ran off the points.”

Carlino finished with 22 points and Chris Johnson added 21. Nick Johnson had 12 points, including a 3-pointer after Gilbert’s lead had ballooned to 10 points in the third, and another three to start the run.

The Tigers played well the entire first half. King and Elliot Clark were hitting their jump shots, and reserve Matt Alvarado gave the team a big lift in the second quarter.

Alvarado scored eight consecutive points at one point for Gilbert, finishing the first half with 12 overall.

Francisco Ahumada hit a shot right before time expired to give the Tigers the 32-23 halftime lead.

But Highland wouldn’t let it last.

“We always come out hesitant because no one wants to screw up,” Toolson said. “That ruins how we play our game. That’s why the press helped us, to run the court some.”

Gilbert advanced to the semifinals despite being a No. 13 seed. It upset Laveen Cesar Chavez and Gilbert Mesquite in their home gyms, and threatened to take another one – until Highland turned up the pressure.

“If we played defense, we knew the offense would come to us,” Chris Johnson said.

SCORING
Highland High: Carlino 22, C. Johnson 21, N. Johnson 12, Toolson 6, Roeder 1
Gilbert: King 16, Alvarado 14, Donzella 8, Clark 7, Taylor 6, Ahumada 6

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	13	19	17	8	57
HIGHLAND	10	13	26	15	64

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clark	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Donzella	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taylor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Gilbert's Eric Donzella blocks the shot of Highland's Matt Carlino.

●●●GILBERT - MESQUITE●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #28- February 28, 2009
Gilbert boys beat Mesquite to reach semis

It started with a healthy dose of Seth Taylor. It ended with a sprinkling of Elliott Clark. In between, there was some Shawn King, Francisco Ahumada and Eric Donzella mixed in.

The final result was that Gilbert High's boys basketball team avenged a pair of regular-season losses to Fiesta Region rival Gilbert Mesquite, knocking out the Wildcats on Saturday night with a 75-72 victory in the 5A Division I quarterfinals at Mesquite.

Gilbert (17-11), the No. 13 seed, pulled off its second straight tournament road win.

"Seth Taylor is our guts and our glory," Gilbert coach Jay Caserio said. "He's got a lot of heart. He came out strong."

Taylor scored Gilbert's first eight points, showing a knack for losing his defender - or not having a defender on him. He sank a wide-open layup, hit baseline jumpers from both sides and tacked on a putback.

That helped Gilbert build a 33-23 lead in the first half.

Mesquite, which sank 13 3-pointers, pulled within 50-47 to begin the fourth period. But the lead grew to 10 again thanks to back-to-back baskets by Ahumada with 5:30 left to play. The bulk of the 3-pointers then came pouring down on the Tigers and bringing Mesquite back.

Mesquite guards Christian Bower (game-high 24 points), Isaiah Strong (21 points) and Braden Tilley sank a pair of treys each in the final five minutes, but the Wildcats couldn't get closer than three.

That's because down the stretch, Gilbert was torrid from the free-throw line. The Tigers were 16-for-19 from the stripe in the final three minutes, with Clark making all eight of his attempts and Donzella going 5-for-6.

Clark, the Tigers' leading scorer on the season, was bottled up from the perimeter all night by the defense of Tilley and Strong. But rather than force bad shots, Clark gave the ball up to teammates who were open and mostly on the mark. Clark attempted just six shots and made only one.

All five Gilbert starters scored in double figures, led by Ahumada with 17 and King with 16. Donzella, Taylor and Clark finished with 11 points each.

"I don't know if we took them lightly or what," Mesquite coach Tom Saltzstein said. "They were a different team than we saw two weeks ago. They played better defense and rebounded better than we did. That was the difference."

Mesquite finished the season 15-11.

The Tigers advance to face top-seeded Gilbert Highland in Wednesday's 7:45 p.m. semifinal at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. Highland edged Chandler, 67-66, in overtime Saturday.

SCORING
Mesquite: Bower 24, Strong 21, Zepeda 10, Tilley 7, Amaya 5, Garretson 3, Jones 2.

Gilbert: Ahumanda 17, King 16, Donzella 11, Taylor 11, Clark 11, Long 5, Alvarado 4.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	22	15	13	25	75
MESQUITE	14	17	16	25	72

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clark	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Donzella	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Taylor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Gilbert's Seth Taylor (42) dives after a loose ball and his hustle pays off as the Tigers advance with a victory over Mesquite.

●●●GILBERT - CESAR CHAVEZ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #27- February 26, 2009
1st Round of State Tournament: Cesar Chavez

The Gilbert Tigers, seeded #13, won their first state tournament game in 5 years when they marched into Cesar Chavez High School and earned a thrilling 68-67 victory over the #4 seed Champions. The decisive shot came with just over four seconds remaining and the Tigers down by 2 points. Shawn King hit the game winning 3 point shot from well beyond the arc on a designed baseline out of bounds play to send the Tigers into the quarterfinals. In one shot, King erased 5 years of frustration that the Tigers have felt not having won a state playoff game since their championship year of 2003. Gilbert jumped out to an early 6 point lead in the first quarter, but also had to deal with Seth Taylor’s (10 points) two quick fouls that sent him to the bench early. Enter junior Matt Alvarado (13 points) who came in and did an excellent job offensively by scoring with an array of offensive rebound put backs, jump hooks, and even a baseline 3 point shot to boot. Although the Tigers came out strong they found themselves down 5 points at the end of the 1st quarter as the Champions continued to pressure Gilbert, push the tempo and hammer the offensive glass. Gilbert was able to regain their composure and get back into the game when it employed a zone defense in the 2nd quarter in an attempt to neutralize Marques Edwards (19 points) who was dominating the Tigers around the basket. The zone helped the Tigers to slow the tempo of the game and moreover slowed Edward’s ruling of the painted area. Gilbert’s offensive production remained steady in the 2nd quarter and the Tigers entered the locker room at halftime trailing by only three points.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, neither their zone or man to man defense could slow Brandon Brown who shot the ball excellently all evening en route to a game high 26 points. Due to Brown’s constant array of perimeter jump shots, as well as the Champions ability to pass the ball to the low post against Gilbert’s zone defense, the Tigers moved out of their zone defense midway through the 3rd quarter. Gilbert battled hard, but continued to give up too many offensive rebounds and when they went back to their man to man defense Edwards got back on track and began controlling the paint once again. The Tigers season hung in the balance as they entered the 4th quarter trailing by six points. Gilbert worked patiently to get back within one point in the first couple of minutes of the 4th quarter, however at that juncture in the game Chavez began to isolate Brown and Edwards on the left wing in a 2 man screen and roll game. The Champions scored on three straight possessions while the Tigers unfortunately missed some short shots in the paint. When a timeout was called with just over 3 minutes to go the Tigers trailed by 8 and their hopes of advancing in the tournament were dwindling. The Tigers held their heads high and refused to quit. On the ensuing possessions, Elliott Clark, who was a steady offensive threat for the Tigers all evening with 22 points, stepped up to the challenge and hit two 3 point shots to get the Tigers back within striking distance. King was fouled shooting a 3 point shot and made all three free throws and suddenly the Tigers were taking the momentum away from the Champions. Gilbert began fouling Chavez with a little over 1 minute to play and the Champions missed 3 of 6 free throws including the front end of 2 one and one situations. Gilbert eventually had the ball trailing by 2 when they used their final timeout to set up their last shot. When the play broke down, Clark drove hard to the basket, but the ball was knocked out by the Champions under the Tiger basket which set up King’s heroic shot. After the chaos of King’s game winner, the officials ruled that there was 1.8 seconds remaining. The Champions, after two timeouts, finally got the ball inbounded, but their half court heave fell short and the Tigers seized victory. The story of the game was that the Tigers stepped up in the 4th quarter and did not allow the Champions second chance opportunities. Limiting Chavez’s second chance opportunities was a major part of the Tiger game plan and to the player’s credit they executed down the stretch both offensively and defensively. The Tigers travel to Mesquite High School on Saturday night to take on the Wildcats in a quarter final match-up. The Tigers are 0-2 versus the Wildcats this season and are eager for another chance to beat them and also the opportunity to play in the Glendale Arena next week. See you at Mesquite at 7 PM Saturday night. GO TIGERS!

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 22, Alvarado 13, King 13, Taylor 10, Ahumada 5, Donzella 5
Chavez: Brown 26, Edwards 19, Washington 9, Barnett 8, Johnson 2, Hunter 2, Lee 1

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	16	17	16	19	68
CESAR CHAVEZ	21	15	19	12	67

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	4	1-4	1-3	0	5	2
Alvarado	0	3	5-7	1-1	0	13	1
Clark	4	1	5-10	3-6	3-3	22	2
Donzella	6	2	1-7	0	3-4	5	1
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	3	1	0-6	2-2	7-8	13	0
Taylor	0	2	4-8	0	2-2	10	0
Long	1	0	0-1	0	0	0	1
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Wirthlin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Huggans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Reber	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Gardner	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	16	13	16-43	7-12	15-17	68	7

●●●GILBERT - HAMILTON●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #26- February 17, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers lost their opening game in the Fiesta Region Tournament on Tuesday night to the Hamilton Huskies by a score of 58-44. Both teams played a lot of players as the importance of region tournament games has waned in recent years with the use of the power point system. Barring multiple upsets in other region tournaments, all 5 teams from the Fiesta Region will make the state tournament, therefore making the Fiesta Region tournament’s games obsolete as they do not count for power points. Consequently, the Tigers rested several of their regular rotation players due to injury and illness. Nevertheless, the Tigers came out hungry and jumped on the Huskies early. Senior Michael Holden led the way for the Tigers early by taking a charge on Gilbert’s first defensive possession and assisting on the teams’ first couple of field goals. His play inspired the whole team to give a total effort. Many of the plays and passes that Holden made going to the basket ended up in the hands of junior Shawn King who finished with a game high 13 points in limited minutes. If not for some missed free throw attempts late in the 2nd quarter the Tigers would have been down less than 6 at the half.

For the second game in a row, the Tigers came out flat after halftime and the Huskies scored six quick points by making a concerted effort to get the ball inside. They did get it inside and made the Tigers pay for their lack of intensity coming out of the locker room. The 6-0 run to start the half put the Tigers in a 12 point hole that they could not recover from. After a quick timeout by Coach Caserio the Tigers righted the ship and competed the rest of the way. The Tigers now have a long wait until the state tournament starts on Thursday February 26th. There are still several regular season games to be contested, not to mention region tournaments so the state tournament bracket will not be set until late Saturday evening. Check back to the web site for further details on this year’s state tournament.

SCORING
Gilbert: King 13, James 11, Clark 5, Alvarado 4, Gardner 4, Holden 4, Boyle 2, Guido 1.

Hamilton: Wright 11, Grove 11, Marks 7, Kort 5, Wilt 5, Hambsch 5, Cone 4, Goudeau 4, Campos 3, Fetters 2, Celeya 1.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	10	6	15	13	44
HAMILTON	11	11	23	13	58

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	0	4	2-4	0	0	4	0
Clark	0	2	1-3	1-1	0	5	1
Donzella	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Guido	2	2	0-5	0-1	1-3	1	4
Holden	6	2	1-4	0-1	2-2	4	3
James	0	6	2-3	2-9	1-1	11	1
King	1	2	1-1	0-1	0	2	2
Taylor	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Boyle	1	3	1-1	0-1	0	2	2
Wirthlin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Huggans	0	0	0-3	0	0	0	0
Reber	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Gardner	1	4	2-9	0	0	4	2
TOTALS	11	28	11-34	6-16	4-8	44	13

●●●GILBERT - MESQUITE●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #25- February 13, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers dropped their regular season finale at Mesquite on Friday night by a score of 73-55. The game was competitive in the first half as the two rival teams battled hard to achieve victory. Sam Zepeda got the Wildcats off to a good start scoring their first 7 points en route to a team high 16 for the game. No doubt, the Wildcats seemed to have a little extra bounce in their step as they looked to defend their home court on senior night. Not to be outdone, Gilbert’s Elliott Clark warmed up and kept the Tigers in the game with some shots from the outside and drives to the basket. Clark scored a game high 22 points on the evening. Gilbert’s offensive success in the first half hinged on their ability to get into the open court for fast break opportunities, as well as their ability to share the basketball within their half court offense. To some degree, they did both in the first half and entered the locker room trailing by only one point.

No one except perhaps the Wildcats could have foreseen what unfolded in the third quarter when the game was decided. Mesquite began the 3rd quarter in a zone defense which absolutely riddled the Tigers. In fact, Gilbert did not score until their last possession of the quarter when Shawn King (15 points) hit a three pointer from the corner. Moreover, Mesquite’s defensive success seemed to fuel their offense and they seemingly couldn’t miss as they lambasted the Tigers in the quarter by a score of 17-3. The only thing left to decide for Gilbert fans was what they were more disappointed in; the Tigers inability to attack the zone or their reluctance to step up on defense to keep the game close. Simply stated the Wildcats were in a rhythm offensively all evening, especially with their perimeter shooting, and the Tigers did little to disrupt their offensive flow. The Tigers continued to battle and eventually found some offense against the Mesquite zone, but it was too little too late for Gilbert as their defense never toughened and they were unable to get back into the game. The Tigers will lick their wounds and enter the Fiesta Region Tournament as the number 4 seed on Tuesday night at Mesquite when they play number 5 seed Hamilton at 7:45.

SCORING
Mesquite: Zepeda 16, Amaya 12, Leckie 12, Strong 10, Bower 8, Krueger 6, Jones 4, Tilley 3, Usevitch 2

Gilbert: Clark 22, King 15, Taylor 8, Long 4, Donzella 2, Ahumada 2, Alvarado 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	17	17	3	18	55
MESQUITE	20	15	17	21	73

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	1	6	1-4	0-3	0	2	1
Alvarado	1	2	1-3	0	0	2	0
Clark	2	1	5-9	3-7	0	19	2
Donzella	3	3	1-5	0-1	0-5	2	2
Guido	2	3	0-1	0-1	0-1	0	1
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	1	0-1	0	0	0	0
King	3	4	4-7	3-7	1-2	18	2
Taylor	0	3	3-3	0	2-7	8	2
Long	1	2-2	0	0	0	4	2
Boyle	0	0	0	0-1	0	0	0
TOTALS	12	24	17-35	6-20	3-15	55	12

●●●GILBERT - HIGHLAND●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #24- February 10, 2009
Prior to tip-off Tuesday night, Coach Caserio paid tribute to this year’s seniors. Unfortunately for the team, they were unable to pull out a hard fought contest against the Highland Hawks and dropped their second game in a row to one of the better teams in the state by a score of 59-51. Much like the game at Highland earlier this season, the stands were crowded, the fans were rowdy, and The Jungle played host to an exciting Arizona high school basketball game. Kurtis Toolson (11 points) did a nice job for the Hawks in the first half by hitting perimeter shots and also by crashing the offensive glass and getting several put backs. Nevertheless, the Tigers defense hung tough versus an explosive offensive team and generally speaking the players did a nice job of defensive rebounding and getting into the open court offensively. The excitement of the game was typified in the first half by a sequence in which Seth Taylor sacrificed his body to save a loose ball from going out of bounds which started one fast break and then shortly thereafter an unbelievable block by Dominique Long on a break away lay-up attempt by Toolson started another Tiger fast break. The noise in The Jungle was deafening during the sequence and perhaps would have gotten louder, however the Tigers were unable to capitalize on the offensive end after their stellar hustle and defensive gems. Tiger leading scorer Elliott Clark had a difficult first half and was held scoreless. Gilbert went into the locker room trailing 23-19.

The third quarter was much like the first half with the exception that the Tigers began to move and share the ball better which led to some better looks for their perimeter shooters. Shawn King (14 points) and Francisco Ahumada (12 points) picked up the offensive slack and the Tigers were battling hard to keep the game within striking distance. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Matt Carlino (12 points) had other ideas and stroked two threes from way behind the arc on back to back possessions near the end of the quarter to push the lead to 9 for the Hawks entering the 4th quarter. The Tigers refused to quit on their senior night and when Elliott Clark (7 points) finally began to find some offensive rhythm, Gilbert got themselves right back in the game with an 11-2 scoring run to start the 4th quarter. Gilbert actually had possession of the ball with the score tied at 44 when Clark took the ball to the basket and was sent to the floor. No foul was called until Shawn King came up with the loose ball near center court. To the Tiger fan’s bewilderment the foul was called on King and the game basically got away from the Tigers from that point forward. Shortly thereafter, Highland went into their spread offense where Nick Johnson, who had a game high 19 points, finally exposed the Tiger defense and got to the basket for a couple easy lay-ins and even when the Hawks missed they got offensive rebound put backs. Eric Donzella (8 points) dropped in a couple of late 3 point shots to give the Tigers hope, but Johnson broke loose against the Tiger full court pressure and cinched the game with a break away lay-up. Although disappointed with the result, the Tigers are battling hard to get their season turned around and will look to do so in a critical match-up with the Mesquite Wildcats on Friday night. The final regular season game for the Tigers will go a long way in determining seeding for not only the region tournament, but for the state tournament as well. See you at Mesquite on Friday night!

SCORING
Gilbert: King 14, Ahumada 12, Donzella 8, Clark 7, Alvarado 4, Taylor 2,
Long 2.

Highland High: N. Johnson 19, Carlino 12, C. Johnson 11, Toolson 11,
Lewis 4, Farr 2.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	11	8	14	18	51
HIGHLAND	12	11	19	17	59

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	1	6	3-4	1-4	3-6	12	1
Alvarado	0	3	2-3	0	0	4	1
Clark	0	5	3-6	1-6	0	9	4
Donzella	3	2	1-3	2-7	0	8	7
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	3	4	4-12	1-3	0	3-3	14
Taylor	1	5	1-3	0	0	2	0
Long	2	2	0	0-1	2-2	2	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	10	27	14-31	5-21	8-11	51	13

●●●GILBERT - MOUNTAIN VIEW●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #23- February 06, 2009
The The Gilbert Tigers played hard, but didn’t have enough fuel in the tank to finish the job in the fourth quarter against perennial power Mesa Mountain View on Friday night. The Toros’ bigger players, 6’5” Eric Hunt and 6’4” Asaad Woods, gave the Tigers problems all evening scoring 22 and 18 points respectively. The Tigers hung tough in the first half on the shoulders of Elliott Clark’s 16 first half points. Hunt’s inside scoring led the way for the Toros in the first half. The teams entered their locker room at halftime deadlocked at 31.

In the second half the Toro defense clamped down and Gilbert was unable to get their offense in gear. Elliott Clark, after a solid opening half, was unable to get in the scorebook in the second half. The rest of the Tigers were unable to fill the scoring void and Gilbert’s offense got stuck in neutral. Meanwhile, Woods’ crafty drives to the basket and subsequent parade to the free throw line paced the Toros. Not only did the endless trip to the charity stripe aid the Toro offense, it also limited Gilbert’s opportunities in the open court. After entering the 4th quarter down by only 4 points, the Tigers quickly found themselves down 12 as they lost track of shooters in transition and gave up a couple critical three pointers. After a timeout, the Tigers seemed to lose their will to fight and the bench played hard to finish the game.

Gilbert enters the final week of the regular season with two games versus their intra-city rivals. Come out and say “farewell” to our seniors as the Tigers take on the Hawks of Highland in their home finale on Tuesday night. Also, join us at Mesquite on Friday as we look for redemption versus the Wildcats.

SCORING
Mountain View (Mesa): Hunt 22, Woods 18, McLelland 13, Meo 11, J. Lane 4, T. Lane 3

Gilbert: Clark 16, King 10, Donzella 8, Ahumad 6, Alverado 6, Taylor 3, Guido 3, Long 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	15	16	12	11	54
MOUNTAIN VIEW	17	14	16	24	71

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	3	0-4	2-3	0	6	1
Alvarado	0	4	3-3	0	0	6	1
Clark	3	1	2-8	2-4	6-8	16	5
Donzella	4	1	1-2	2-2	0-1	8	3
Guido	1	1	0	1-1	0	3	1
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0-3	0	0
King	1	1	5-10	0-1	0	10	1
Taylor	0	2	1-2	0	1-1	3	0
Long	2	0	1-2	0-1	0	2	1
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	13	13	13-31	7-12	7-13	54	13

●●●GILBERT - HAMILTON●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #22- February 03, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers went on the road and earned a solid victory over the Hamilton Huskies on Tuesday night by a score of 53-47. Several Tiger players have been sick and physically banged up this past week, but battled through it to capture a significant road win in the tough Fiesta Region. The Tigers came out strong defensively and held the Huskies scoreless until the final 30 seconds of the first quarter. Not only was the Tiger defense stout, but Gilbert did a commendable job on the defensive glass which allowed them to get into the open court and get some early looks at the basket. The Huskies finally found some offense in the second quarter when they began making some perimeter jump shots and forcing the Tigers to commit several turnovers. The story of the first half though was senior Francisco Ahumada’s work on the offensive glass. Each time the Tigers missed a shot it seemed that Ahumada, who had a game high 14 points, was there to clean up the garbage and keep the Tigers in the lead.

The second half opened with Hamilton playing intense and picking up with full court man to man defense. The pressure and intensity seemed to rattle the Tigers a bit and they had a very tough shooting quarter and scored only 6 points. Hamilton not only erased the 8 point deficit they faced at halftime, but actually entered the fourth quarter ahead by 3 points. A big part of Hamilton’s comeback was their intent to put the ball in the post where they got several easy baskets. In a major reversal of fortune, the Tigers scored 21 fourth quarter points to get the victory. The difference in the final stanza was that Gilbert’s scoring duo of Elliott Clark and Shawn King finally got loose for some open shots and made them. The Tigers had to overcome some hot 3 point shooting from Micah Fetters late in the game, but still got the job done by securing defensive rebounds and knocking down their free throws. Up next is a difficult test on the road at power point #1 Mesa Mountain View on Friday night.

SCORING
Hamilton: Fetters 11, Grove 10, Wright 6,Moore 5, Cone 5, Wilt 3, Campos 3, Hambsch 2, Goudeau 2,

Gilbert: Ahumada 14, King 12, Clark 10, Alvarado 8, Donzella 7, Taylor 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	13	13	6	21	53
HAMILTON	2	16	17	12	47

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	9	8-13	0-2	0-1	16	1
Alvarado	0	2	3-4	0	0	6	0
Clark	1	3	1-6	1-5	5-6	10	3
Donzella	3	2	2-7	0-1	3-4	7	3
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	1	5	4-4	0-3	4-8	12	2
Taylor	0	6	1-5	0	0	2	0
Long	1	0	0-1	0-1	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	8	27	19-40	1-12	12-19	53	9

●●●GILBERT - CHANDLER●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #21- January 30, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers scratched, clawed, and fought for an 81-76 overtime victory against the Chandler Wolves on Friday night in the Jungle. Gilbert, who was coming into the game having lost 7 of their last 10 ball games, finally seemed fed up with their recent failures and showed a physical and mental toughness that had been missing in recent contests. Chandler guard Jason Edwards was the story of the game until he fouled out midway through the 4th quarter. Gilbert simply had no answer for Chandler’s senior point guard as he continually drove to the basket for lay-ups, pitched out to teammates for scoring opportunities, and even showed some range with his perimeter jump shot en route to a game high 25 points. Edwards’ penetration, as well as teammate Preston Hall’s strong drives to the basket, allowed Chandler to capture a six point lead at the half.

Gilbert went away from their zone defense and made a concerted effort to rebound and run in the second half. The “wide open” approach seemed to spark the Tigers as junior guard Shawn King came to life in the second half. King’s 21 points were a solid compliment to Elliott Clark’s usual production (24 points) and he was the “second scorer” that Gilbert had been sorely missing in recent weeks. Not enough can be said about Senior Seth Taylor who’s second half defensive and hustle efforts seemed to get the Tiger’s juices flowing. Taylor, who has been playing through injury most of the season, dove on the floor, blocked shots, and inspired the rest of the Tigers to get the “W.” Chandler, to their credit, showed no quit after Edwards fouled out and gave themselves a chance to win on several occasions. Senior Andre Gibson steadied the Wolves with 20 points and kept Chandler in the game after Edwards’ departure. The Tigers closed out the Wolves by making their free throws down the stretch and limiting Chandler to one shot on many of their late game possessions.

Up next for the Tigers are two difficult road games at Hamilton on Tuesday and at Mountain View on Friday. Come out and support the team this week as we look to improve our chances at a birth in the state tournament.

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 24, King 21, Ahumada 12, Donzolla 9, Taylor 8, Alverado 6, Long 1

Chandler: Edwards 25, A. Gibson 20, Hall 14, Johnson 11, Williams 2, Floyd 2, Lee 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	OT	F
GILBERT	15	16	16	19	15	81
CHANDLER	17	20	14	15	10	76

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	1	7	3-9	2-4	0	12	2
Alvarado	0	10	2-2	0	2-2	6	2
Clark	1	1	6-10	2-6	6-7	24	4
Donzella	3	3	2-4	1-1	2-4	9	8
Guido	0	0	0-2	0	0	0	1
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	2	3	6-10	1-2	6-10	21	0
Taylor	0	2	3-3	0	2-2	8	1
Long	1	3	0-3	0	1-2	1	5
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	8	29	22-43	6-13	19-27	81	21

●●●GILBERT - MESQUITE●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #20- January 27, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers lost their third game in row on Tuesday night when they were defeated on their home court by the Mesquite Wildcats 54-47. Once again the Tiger offense was slow into stride as Gilbert scored only 7 points in the first quarter. Give the Wildcats some credit for their tough defense, but the Tigers simply came out flat on their home court and could not find the range on their perimeter jumpers or drives to the basket. After giving up 17 second quarter points, the Tigers found themselves trailing by 10 at the half.

Gilbert began the third quarter with the focus and intensity that they needed from the outset. The Tigers made a conscientious effort to push the tempo and get some early looks at the basket. Senior swingman Francisco Ahumada finally gave the Gilbert faithful something to cheer about by scoring all 13 of his points in the third quarter comeback, including three baskets “from downtown.” Gilbert’s defense stiffened as well, giving up only 6 in the third quarter and the Tigers found themselves trailing by only 1 as they entered the 4th quarter.

Unfortunately for Gilbert, the momentum they gained in the 3rd quarter did not carry over to the 4th. Mesquite did a nice job of “weathering the storm.” Eventually the Tigers began to miss shots and their transition game was slowed by their lack of focus on the defensive glass. Moreover, Mesquite got some timely shooting from three point range, especially by their center Josh Amaya who stroked two from beyond the arc in the game on his way to a team high 11 points. The simple fact of the matter is that Mesquite played more of a team game on offense, looking for each other and getting assists. They got contributions from players up and down their entire lineup which was more than enough to put the Tigers away late in the game. The Tigers will continue to battle and try to “right the ship” as they take on the Chandler Wolves on Friday night in The Jungle.

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 14, Ahumada 13, King 10, Taylor 4, Guido 4, Donzella 2.

Mesquite: Amaya 11, Strong 11, Bower 9, Leckie 8, Garretson 5, Zepeda 4, Randall 3, Tilley 3.

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	7	10	15	15	47
MESQUITE	10	17	6	21	54

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	10	2-5	3-5	0	13	0
Alvarado	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
Clark	2	4	1-2	3-8	3-4	14	3
Donzella	1	1	1-9	0	0	2	3
Guido	1	0	2-3	0-2	0	4	1
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	1	0-1	0	0	0	0
King	2	9	3-10	1-5	1-2	10	4
Taylor	0	3	0-3	0	4-9	4	4
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	8	30	9-33	7-20	8-15	47	15

●●●GILBERT - HIGHLAND●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #19- January 23, 2009
Highland’s gym was packed and rowdy on Friday night as the Gilbert Tigers lost to the Highland Hawks by a score of 65-57. A “tip of the hat” to all hoops fans in attendance as the atmosphere for the game was electric. Gilbert has now lost 6 of its past 9 games, however the Tigers showed no quit and battled to the final buzzer. The Hawks are a highly touted and extremely talented team. Chris Johnson gave the Tiger defense trouble all night as he had his entire repertoire in action. He hit a couple threes, drove the ball to the basket effectively, and was deadly from the charity stripe (13/17). Moreover, he forced the Tigers to alter many of their shots around the basket with his shot blocking presence. Johnson’s younger brother Nick was also a difficult cover for the Tigers as he hit one big three point shot after another; five in all en route to 17 points. Nevertheless the Tigers continued to play hard and had cut the deficit to 8 points on Shawn King’s three point shot just before halftime. Unfortunately for the Tigers they left enough time on the clock for Matt Carlino to hit a well defended half court heave that hit the backboard and went in to beat the clock as the team’s headed to the locker rooms.

The third quarter brought much of the same as the first half… the Tigers playing hard, just not as well as their opponent. Fortunately for the Tigers, the Hawks went to a zone defense in the fourth quarter which allowed the Tigers to get some open looks from the perimeter and the momentum of the game actually swung back in the Tiger’s favor. After a timeout, the Hawks went back to their man to man defense, but continued to “take the air out of the ball” by running their spread offense. It was a much more effective strategy for the Hawks. The Tigers continued to battle and actually got the lead down to six on a couple of occasions, but could not hit the big shot to get it to four. The Hawks made their free throws down the stretch and closed Gilbert out. Up next for the Tigers are two crucial home games versus Mesquite on Tuesday night and Chandler on Friday night. Come out and support the Tigers!

SCORING
Highland High: C. Johnson 23, N. Johnson 17, Carlino 14, Lewis 5, Toolson 2, Roeder 2, Farr 2

Gilbert: Clark 20, King 13, Donzella 9, Ahumada 8, Taylor 4, Alvarado 2, Guido 1

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	7	16	10	24	57
HIGHLAND	14	20	14	17	65

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	1	2	1-3	2-2	0	8	1
Alvarado	1	7	1-2	0	0	2	2
Clark	1	0	6-9	1-7	5-5	20	0
Donzella	2	3	3-9	0-3	3-4	9	2
Guido	0	0	0	0	1-2	1	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	1	6	4-8	1-1	2-2	13	2
Taylor	1	3	2-3	0	0	4	0
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	7	21	17-34	4-13	11-13	57	7

●●●GILBERT - DESERT VISTA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #18- January 20, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers were controlled on their home court by the Desert Vista Thunder on Tuesday night by a score of 57-38. Gilbert seemed unfocused and without energy from the opening tip and were basically outplayed in every facet of the game. The Tigers had an extremely difficult time against the Thunder’s zone defense. Gilbert’s passes and drives into the painted area were often thwarted and combined with a difficult night of perimeter shooting, the Tiger offense was stymied.

Moreover, Desert Vista was extremely patient on offense and forced Gilbert to play defense for long stretches. Even when the Tigers played good defense and forced Desert Vista to kick out for shots it seemed that the Thunder three point shooters always had the answer as many of their threes rippled the chords. Kudos to Coach Harris and his team for executing a solid game plan en route to victory.

No doubt, the Tigers are struggling right now having lost 5 of their previous 8 games, but the schedule gets no easier as they travel to Highland on Friday night for their third region game against their cross-town rivals. Let’s hope the Tigers can pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and get back to their winning ways. As Coach John Wooden once observed, “Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.” We hope to see the visitor’s section at Highland’s gym packed full of Goons on Friday night.

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 12, King 8, Donzella 7, Taylor 5, Guido 2, Long 2, James 2

Desert Vista: Ford 14, Lever 12, Tilleman 12, Gardner 7, Timpani 5, Palty 5, Brugman 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	10	11	9	8	38
DESERT VISTA	17	11	15	14	57

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	1	5	0-3	0-2	0	0	1
Alvarado	1	1	0-1	0	0	0	1
Clark	0	3	2-7	1-5	5-6	12	0
Donzella	2	2	2-4	1-2	0	7	0
Guido	1	3	1-1	0-2	0	2	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
James	0	3	1-2	0	0	2	2
King	2	6	3-5	0-3	2-2	8	6
Taylor	1	2	1-2	0	3-4	5	1
Long	0	1	0-1	0-1	0	2	2
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	8	26	10-26	2-15	10-12	38	14

●●●GILBERT - HAMILTON●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #17- January 16, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers righted the ship on Friday night as they defeated the Hamilton Huskies at home by a score of 45-40. After a tough week of basketball which included a difficult loss to Chandler and a blowout loss to Saint Mary’s, the Tigers got back on track and evened their region record to 1-1. Hamilton played a disciplined game, but the Tigers “refused to lose” their 3rd game in a row and took it to their region rival.

The story of the game was Gilbert’s tough man to man defense and solid defensive rebounding. Unlike the previous two games, Gilbert asserted themselves on the defensive glass and that in itself gave them a chance to win the game. Moreover, the Tiger bench played a crucial roll as they pushed the lead from 3 to 9 for the Tigers in the late 3rd quarter/early 4th quarter. There were no style points awarded to the Tigers on this night, just victory as Gilbert simply took a business like approach en route to victory. Gilbert now turns it’s attention to the defending 5A State Champs. Come out and support the Tigers as they take on the Desert Vista Thunder on Tuesday night.

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 17, Taylor 6, King 6, Ahumada 5, Donzella 4, James 3, Long 2, Alvarado 2

Hamilton: Campos 11, Wilt 7, Moore 7, Grove 6, Cone 4, Fedders 3,
Goudeau 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	11	12	8	14	45
HAMILTON	10	8	9	13	40

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	3	4	1-3	0	3-4	50	2
Alvarado	0	1	1-3	0	0	2	1
Clark	2	2	5-7	1-3	4-5	17	3
Donzella	2	4	1-2	0	2-2	4	5
Guido	0	0	0-1	0	0	0	2
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	1	0	1-1	0	3	1
King	1	3	1-5	0-2	4-4	6	2
Taylor	0	1	2-3	0	2-2	6	1
Long	1	2	1-1	0	0	2	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	9	18	12-25	2-6	15-17	40	17

●●●GILBERT - ST. MARY'S●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #16- January 15, 2009
Even in warm-ups, it was apparent Thursday night's game between Gilbert and Phoenix St. Mary's would be a clash of styles. Once the Knights hit full speed, Gilbert couldn't keep up. Third-ranked St. Mary's used a big third-quarter run and cruised past No. 4 Gilbert, 72-46, in a 5A non-region boys basketball game at St. Mary's.

The Tigers had a five-point lead early and trailed just 29-25 at the half, but a 23-5 run by the Knights to start the third quarter ended all suspense. "They got the game they wanted in the third quarter," said Gilbert assistant coach Justin Hastings. "Once the train started going downhill, we couldn't stop it."

Gilbert played its type of game early, using a patient approach offensively and continually hustling to loose balls. Despite a noticeable height advantage, the Tigers had the rebounding edge early. Gilbert held an 8-3 lead seven minutes into the game, and neither team had a lead larger than five points in the first half. The Tigers led 20-16 with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter, but St. Mary's finished out the half on a 13-5 run and blew it open in the third.

"We know they're an explosive team," Hastings said. "We wanted to control the tempo as much as we could, and we did that in the first half." Demetrius Walker, who has committed to play at Arizona State next season, led the charge for St. Mary's, scoring 14 second-half points and orchestrating the offense after switching from shooting guard to point guard at intermission. He had 20 points. The game was Walker's fifth with St. Mary's after transferring in from California over the summer. He was ineligible for the first semester.

"I've got to get used to it," Walker said. "It's a totally different game from California." When Walker is going good, the Knights will be hard to stop, as evidenced by the stellar third quarter. St. Mary's coach David Lopez said a point of emphasis during the halftime chat was to push the tempo.

"We didn't want to get into a walk-it-up game," Lopez said. "These kids are too good and too athletic. They get excited about playing that type of way." Elliot Clark had 17 points for Gilbert. He had 12 in the first half but went cold in the third quarter, as did the rest of the Tigers.

"We won't know what we shot in the third quarter until we look at the film, but we had some looks," Hastings said. "With them running downhill and us not making anything, it was a bad combination."

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	12	13	7	14	46
ST. MARY'S	13	16	25	18	72

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	2	2-6	0-1	0	4	2
Alvarado	1	5	5-7	0	0-1	10	0
Clark	3	8	6-12	0-7	5-5	17	4
Donzella	2	3	1-4	0-3	0	2	1
Guido	0	1	1-2	0	0	2	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	1
James	0	0	0-1	0	0	0	0
King	1	6	1-6	0-2	3-4	5	3
Taylor	2	3	0-2	0	1-2	1	0
Long	1	1	2-5	0-2	1-2	5	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	12	29	18-45	0-15	10-19	46	11

●●●GILBERT - CHANDLER●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #15- January 13, 2009
The Gilbert Tigers dropped their Fiesta Region opener at Chandler by a score of 64-54 on Tuesday night. Gilbert started the game in solid fashion as they opened with a 6-0 lead, however the game was a struggle for the Tigers from that point forward and the momentum of the game turned when senior point guard Eric Donzella picked up his second foul midway through the first quarter. The Wolves closed the quarter on a 19-6 run and never relinquished control of the game from that point forward. The second quarter brought much of the same as the first for the Tigers as Chandler pressured hard, forced turnovers, and most importantly “got the garbage.” Gilbert felt fortunate to have weathered the storm and some foul trouble to enter the locker room down only eight points at halftime.

The Tigers half time adjustments seemed to work well as the players came out, slowed down, and executed their offense en route to a 17 point quarter that got them back in the game. Gilbert found itself down by only 3 points entering the fourth quarter. As the midway point of the fourth quarter approached, the Tigers finally reclaimed the lead by one on two free throws, however the lead was short lived as a “turnover bug” bit the Tigers shortly thereafter as they failed to execute against Chandler’s man pressure and zone trapping defenses. The guard tandem of Edwards and Gibson were a thorn in the Tiger’s side all night as they scored 22 and 20 points respectively. The Tigers were led by Shawn King’s 19 points, while teammates Eric Donzella and Elliott Clark chipped in with 14 and 12 points a piece. Gilbert came up short on this occasion, but has no time to hang its head as it heads on the road to face highly touted Saint Mary’s on Thursday night.

SCORING
Chandler: Edwards 22, Gibson 20, Johnson 9, Hall 7, Williams 3, Floyd 2, Jones 2

Gilbert: King 19, Donzella 14, Clark 12, Ahumada 3, Taylor 2, Alvarado 2
Long 2

TEAM	1	2	3	4	F
GILBERT	12	13	17	12	54
CHANDLER	19	14	12	19	64

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	4	3	0-2	0	3-4	3	4
Alvarado	1	3	1-3	0	0	2	0
Clark	3	2	4-8	0-3	4-4	12	5
Donzella	1	3	4-6	1-2	3-4	14	4
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	1	7	5-8	2-4	3-5	19	2
Taylor	1	5	0	0	2-2	2	2
Long	0	2	1-1	0-1	0	2	3
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	11	25	15-28	3-10	15-19	54	22

●●●GILBERT - SOUTH MOUNTAIN●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #14- January 09, 2009
Almost without fail this season, the Gilbert Tigers Boys Basketball Team has simply “found a way to win.” That was the case again on Friday night as the Tigers slugged their way to victory against South Mountain by a score of 49-44. The game started great for the Tigers as they opened with an 8-0 lead in the first quarter, however the Jaguars got their trapping defense and running game in gear midway through the opening stanza and closed the quarter on an 11-5 scoring run. As the game moved into the second quarter the Tigers continued to struggle against South’s pressure defense, but fortunately for Gilbert their defense was solid and the game was tied at halftime.

The third quarter brought little change for the Tigers, mostly due to the Jaguars relentless pursuit of offensive rebounds. The continuous stream of second chance opportunities allowed South to build a 4 point lead entering the 4th quarter. The Tigers got an earful from Coach Caserio during the quarter break about their lack of intensity and execution on the defensive glass. The players responded and seized control of the game in the final stanza by outscoring the Jaguars 17-8.

Senior Elliot Clark’s timely shooting and drives led the 4th quarter charge. As soon as the Tigers were able to recapture the lead in the 4th quarter they employed their zone defense in an effort to force South into perimeter jump shots and more importantly protect the basket. The unsung hero of the game was junior Matt Alvarado who did an excellent job filling the middle of the zone by getting and securing some defensive rebounds, tipping several interior passes, and taking a big charge late in the game. The Tigers open region play on Tuesday when they play at Chandler. The entire program invites you to join us on the road for our first region contest. See you on Tuesday night at Chandler!

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 21, King 9, Donzella 8, Ahumada 7, Taylor 4

South Mountain: Preston 15, Hinton 8, Tademy 8, Avila 6, Lamar 3, Hill 2, Cinco 2

GILBERT	13	9	10	17	49
SOUTH MOUNTAIN	11	11	14	8	44

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	1	3-6	0	1-2	7	2
Alvarado	2	1	0-1	0	0	0	0
Clark	0	2	9-13	0-4	3-5	21	5
Donzella	3	1	1-3	0-1	6-6	8	1
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	0	3	2-7	1-2	2-5	9	1
Taylor	2	5	2-5	0	0-1	4	1
Long	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	10	13	17-35	1-7	12-19	49	11

●●●GILBERT - BASHA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #13- January 06, 2009
Judd Welfringer buried his face in his jersey. It was the one late-game shot Chandler Basha couldn't hit, the last one of the night. A furious fourth-quarter rally missed by a swish, and host Gilbert - in control for the first 26 minutes - held on for a 60-58 victory on Tuesday night to snap a two-game skid. It was Welfringer and Tyler Miller who calibrated the comeback in the closing stanza. A 14-point Gilbert lead late in the third quarter became a brief, one-point deficit. And though a couple offensive rebounds helped the Tigers get their lead back to two points with 14 seconds left, Basha was on a roll.

Miller scored nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter, including a 3-point play and a layup for a 58-57 lead. Welfringer hit a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter, but after Nick Markovich dribbled around looking for a seam for himself, he found Welfringer by himself from nearly 18 feet hit the front rim. "Wide open, in rhythm, it was there," Basha coach Brad Pinter said. "I couldn't ask for a better shot."

The Tigers (11-2) couldn't have asked for a better beginning. While Basha couldn't get a shot to fall and hurt itself with an ever-escalating amount of turnovers, the Tigers moved the ball with ease. They shared in the half-court offense, in transition and in the paint. Void of a true big man and low-post presence they've enjoyed in season's past, Gilbert installed a new offensive style this season, one more reliant on perimeter play and swinging the ball from side to side. The result was leads of 19-10 after one quarter, then 38-29 and 47-36 after three quarters. "It was our best job offensively of sharing the ball all season, almost to a fault when we passed up some shots," Tigers coach Jay Caserio said. "We've struggled with (sharing) but the kids did a wonderful job of it."

Until the final minutes, Basha (8-7) couldn't do the same. Markovich and Miller account for 30.7 points per game, but despite Miller's late awakening, were a combined 8-for-31 from the field. Gilbert got 18 points from Shawn King, 15 from Francisco Ahumada and 12 from Seth Taylor as they were able to beat Basha for transition baskets. "We made them take tough shots and not many second chances," Caserio said.

The effort might have been wasted had the Tigers not hit the offensive boards, and the game was capped with two free throws from Ahumada for the final outcome with 40 seconds left. Miller's 3-pointer with 17 seconds rimmed out and Ahumada made one more free throw before Welfringer's final fling. "If we (rebound) that, I feel like we win," Pinter said. "We may or may not have, but we didn't close it out."

SCORING
Gilbert: King 18, Ahumada 15, Taylor 12, Clark 9, Alvarado 6

Basha: Miller 19, Wellfinger 9, Larkin 8, Jones 6, Markovich 6, Berry 5, Hasenstein 3, McClellan 2

GILBERT	19	13	15	13	60
BASHA	10	16	10	22	58

PLAYER	ASST	REB	2PT	3PT	FT	PTS	TO
Ahumada	2	13	6-10	0-1	3-4	15	2
Alvarado	0	3	3-3	0	0	6	0
Clark	3	5	3-8	1-3	0	9	2
Donzella	3	2	0-4	0-2	0	0	2
Guido	1-2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	3	5	4-10	1-2	7-8	18	4
Taylor	1	4	3-7	0-1	6-8	12	0
Long	2	2	0	0-1	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	15	36	13-42	2-10	16-20	60	10

●●●GILBERT - DIAMOND RANCH●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #12- December 23, 2008
PHOENIX UNION HOLIDAY CLASSIC
The Gilbert Tigers finished 4th in the annual Phoenix Union Holiday Classic when it lost the third place game to Diamond Ranch (CA) by a score of 58-69. The Tigers played without senior point guard Eric Donzella due to an injury suffered the night before, but still put up a great effort. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they could never quite recover from the 24-8 opening quarter that saw the Tigers turn the ball over 6 times. Moreover, their zone defense did little to slow Diamond Ranch while primary scorers Elliott Clark and Shawn King got off to a slow start. The second quarter rekindled hope that Gilbert could get back in the game as Clark was moved to the point guard position and ignited the Tiger offense with some hot shooting from behind the three point arc. The Tigers closed the deficit to 38-30 as the teams went to the locker room at halftime.

The Tigers continued to scratch and claw the rest of the way, but just could never quite seem to get over the hump. They closed the deficit to 5 points late in the 3rd quarter but could not seal the deal as they ended the quarter with 2 missed free throws, 2 shooting fouls, and 2 turnovers. Refusing to give up, the Tigers had the game back to 6 with 2:16 to go in the game when Gilbert ran a play to get King an open three pointer which they ran excellently, but the shot rimmed out and the Tigers could get no closer from there as Diamond Ranch closed the game by making their 4th quarter free throws. At the end of the day the Tigers simply did not shoot the ball well enough to win the game, including a game changing 7 for 19 from the free throw line.

All things considered, the Tigers put out an excellent effort under some difficult circumstances. Diamond Ranch is a solid and well coached team that controlled the game from the opening tip. The entire program will now take a well deserved break for the holidays and look to come back strong after the holiday season when they face Basha on January 6th.

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 21, Taylor 15, Hutt R. 5, King 5, Ahumada 4, Alvarado 4,
Guido 3, Long 1

Diamond Ranch: Johnson 20, Cunningham 15, Adames 14, Benson 12, Green 4, Garay 2

GILBERT	8	22	16	12	58
DIAMOND RANCH	24	14	17	14	69

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	1-3	0-2	2-2	6	0	3	4
Alvarado	2-4	0-1	0	3	0	0	4
Clark	2-8	5-12	2-4	4	1	5	21
Donzella	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Guido	0	1-1	0	1	4	0	3
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	0-2	1-1	2-4	3	2	0	5
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	2-9	0-2	1-6	1	0	4	5
Taylor	7-13	0	1-1	6	3	0	15
Long	0-1	0	1-4	1	1	0	1
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	14-40	7-19	9-21	25	11	12	58

●●●GILBERT - CESAR CHAVEZ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #11- December 22, 2008
PHOENIX UNION HOLIDAY CLASSIC
The Gilbert Tigers suffered their first defeat of the season in the semi-finals of the Phoenix Union Holiday Classic at the hands of the Cesar Chavez Champions by the score 66-60. Gilbert came out strong in the first quarter, fast-breaking their way to a 21 point quarter and an eight point lead, however the Champions slowly clawed their way back in to the game with relentless defensive pressure, quick fast breaks, and solid offensive production from Booker Washington who finished with a game high 22 points. Not only was Washington shooting the ball well, but the entire Champions team gave the Tigers fits with their onslaught of offensive rebounding and shot blocking.

Nevertheless, the Tigers continued to battle all evening and still maintained a slim lead in the waning moments of the third quarter. It was at that time that all Tiger fans, players, and coaches could feel their stomach’s turn when senior point guard Eric Donzella went down with an apparent collarbone injury and would not return to the game. The rest of Tigers put up a solid fight the rest of the way, but still came up short. The Champions play a physical brand of basketball and it showed late in the game as many of the Tigers perimeter shots were off target. The Tigers will play for third place in the tournament on Tuesday afternoon at 12:30 against Diamond Ranch (CA).

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 16, Ahumada 14, King 9, Taylor 8, Donzella 6, Hutt 3, Long 2, Alvarado 2

Cesar Chavez: Washington 22, Brown 14, Edwards 13, Pink 6, Lee 5, Jackson 4, Barnett 2

GILBERT	21	14	11	14	60
CESAR CHAVEZ	13	16	15	22	66

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	6-10	0	2-3	11	2	2	14
Alvarado	1-2	0	0	3	2	0	2
Clark	3-12	1-7	7-8	2	3	3	16
Donzella	2-8	0-1	2-2	2	3	1	6
Guido	0	0	0	1	4	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	0-3	1-1	0	1	2	0	3
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	2-6	1-2	2-2	3	1	1	9
Taylor	1-3	0	6-8	2	0	1	8
Long	1-1	0	0	1	1	1	2
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	16-45	3-11	19-23	26	18	9	60

●●●GILBERT - BARRY GOLDWATER●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #10- December 20, 2008
PHOENIX UNION HOLIDAY CLASSIC
The Gilbert Tigers kept their record perfect at 10-0 when they defeated the Bulldogs of Barry Goldwater High School in the quarterfinals of the Phoenix Union Holiday Classic by a score of 56-37. The Tiger offense began sluggishly against the zone defense of Goldwater, but eventually the perimeter shooting of Gilbert’s dynamic duo of Elliott Clark and Shawn King found it’s groove and the Tigers seized control of the game by outscoring Goldwater 18-5 in the decisive 2nd quarter. Goldwater’s senior big man Jake McFarlin kept the Bulldogs in striking distance scoring 10 first half points en route to a team high 16 points for the game. King and Clark finished the game with 18 and 16 points respectively for the Tigers. Gilbert now faces the difficult task of keeping its record perfect when it faces the explosive, up tempo offense of Cesar Chavez High School in the semi finals of the tournament on Monday night at 7:30. Come out and cheer the Tigers to victory!

SCORING
Barry Goldwater: McFarlin 16, Ramirez 4, Sutkajc 3, Acuff 3, Barone 3, Vos 2, Stafford 2, Salyer 2, Parish 2

Gilbert: King 18, Clark 16, Ahumada 7, Hutt 6, Alvarado 4, Guido 3, Long 2

GILBERT	13	18	7	18	56
BARRY GOLDWATER	11	5	11	10	37

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	3-3	0	1-2	1	1	1	7
Alvarado	2-5	0	0-1	5	0	1	4
Clark	1-4	4-7	2-2	3	2	5	16
Donzella	0-2	0-1	0	1	4	4	0
Guido	0	1-1	0	0	1	1	3
Holden	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	3-4	0	0-2	7	1	3	6
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	3-8	3-4	3-4	3	1	2	18
Taylor	0-1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Long	1-5	0	0	4	2	1	2
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	13-32	8-13	6-11	24	14	18	56

●●●GILBERT - ALHAMBRA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #9- December 19, 2008
PHOENIX UNION HOLIDAY CLASSIC
The Gilbert Tigers left no doubt in their opening round match-up in the Phoenix Union Holiday Classic by blasting the Alhambra Lions by a score of 77-41. The Tigers were up 20 at the end of the first quarter and by 36 by halftime as they held Alhambra to 16 first half points. The game was a much needed breather for the Tigers who have seemingly had to “slug out” their previous eight wins on the season. More importantly many of the reserves got a chance to get some minutes and they did not disappoint as 11 of 13 Tigers got in the scorebook. Shawn King led Gilbert in scoring with 14 points while Roman Hutt and Eric Donzella chipped in with 13 and 10 points respectively. The Tigers now turn their attention to Barry Goldwater High School and the quarterfinals of the tournament.

SCORING
Gilbert: King 14, Hutt 13, Donzella 10, Clark 9, Alvarado 8, Ahumada 8, James 5, Long 4, Holden 2, Guido 2, Taylor 2

Alhambra: Esquirel 15, Gomez 10, Flores 6, Madrigal 4, Malakowsky 2, Garcia 2, Hernandez 2

GILBERT	25	27	15	10	77
ALHAMBRA	5	11	13	12	41

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	4-7	0	0	1	0	1	8
Alvarado	4-4	0	0-1	2	2	0	8
Clark	3-4	1-2	0	2	0	4	9
Donzella	5-5	0-2	0	3	0	5	10
Guido	1-1	0-1	0	2	1	2	2
Holden	1-2	0-2	0	0	0	2	2
J. Hutt	0-1	0	0	0	2	0	0
R. Hutt	6-6	0	1-1	5	0	2	13
James	1-4	1-1	0	1	0	0	5
King	3-4	2-2	2-2	2	2	2	14
Taylor	1-2	0	0	3	0	1	2
Long	2-4	0	0	4	0	2	4
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TOTALS	31-43	4-11	3-4	22	7	21	77

●●●GILBERT - DESERT RIDGE●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #8- December 15, 2008
The Gilbert Tigers struggled to find their shooting touch early in the game, but finally put things together in the second and third quarters as they ran their record to 8-0 by defeating Desert Ridge on Monday night by a score of 57-43. The Jaguars’ zone defense gave the Tigers trouble early in the game as Gilbert continued to settle for quick perimeter jump shots and the Jaguars did a nice job of controlling the defensive glass.

After the halftime intermission the Tigers picked up their defense, got some easy buckets in transition, and most importantly began to move and share the ball in their half court offense. The dominating 3rd quarter surge had the Tigers up by 19 entering the final frame. The 4th quarter saw the Tigers relax on defense and allow Desert Ridge to cut their deficit under 10 points, but the Tigers got some timely baskets and free throws and held the Jaguars safe to the final buzzer.

The Tigers now have 4 games in 5 nights as they compete in the annual Phoenix Union Holiday Tournament. The first 3 rounds of the tournament are hosted at Gilbert High School. Check the homepage for a copy of the tournament schedule. Most importantly come out and support your 8-0 Tigers. See you in the Jungle on Friday night!

SCORING
GILBERT: (8-0) Ahumada 14, Clark 13, Donzella 11, King 11, Long 4,
Taylor 4

DESERT RIDGE: (2-4) Williams 13, Boykin 11, Walsh 5, Mueller 5, Saucedo 4, Papa 3, Pautastico 2

GILBERT	7	19	19	12	57
DESERT RIDGE	10	11	5	17	43

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	7-9	0	0-1	3	0	0	14
Alvarado	0-2	0	0	3	1	0	0
Clark	2-9	3-9	0	0	2	1	13
Donzella	1-3	1-3	6-9	4	3	8	11
Guido	0-2	0	0	3	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	0-1	0	0	4	1	1	0
James	0-2	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	3-9	1-3	2-2	5	2	2	11
Taylor	1-2	0	2-3	2	2	1	4
Long	0	1-1	1-2	1	1	1	4
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	14-39	6-16	11-17	25	12	14	57

●●●GILBERT - BUENA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #7- December 09, 2008
The Gilbert Tigers started sluggish, but finished with a flurry to defeat the Buena Colts by a score of 61-55. As has been the story often this season, Gilbert entered the fourth quarter trailing on the scoreboard, but found their offensive rhythm just in time to outscore Buena 20-12 in the final stanza to pull out the victory. Elliott Clark was the offensive hero as he knocked down two three point shots early in the 4th quarter to put the Colts on their heels. Clark had a solid all around game scoring a game high 24 points, but also chipped in with 4 assists and 4 rebounds. His backcourt mate Eric Donzella contributed 11 points and 5 rebounds, including a huge fourth quarter three point shot that stymied a late Colts run. Senior Francisco Ahumada lent a hand with a 10 point, 5 rebound performance. Anthony Miller played effectively at both ends of the court all evening and led the Colts with 14 points. Next up for the 7-0 Tigers is a road match up with Desert Ridge on Monday night. After that the Tigers turn their attention to hosting a site for the Phoenix Union Holiday Tournament which begins on Friday.

SCORING
Gilbert: (7-0) Clark 24, Donzella 11, Ahumada 10, King 7, Alvarado 4, Taylor 3, Long 2

Buena: (5-3) Miller 14, Mackin 13, Malcolm 8, Colvin 8, Millburn 8, Little 2, Dalyraple 2
Highlights

GILBERT	12	12	17	20	61
BUENA	13	16	14	12	55

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	4-7	0-1	2-4	5	2	1	10
Alvarado	2-2	0	0	1	0	0	4
Clark	6-7	3-5	3-4	4	2	4	24
Donzella	3-8	1-1	2-4	5	3	0	11
Guido	0-1	0-1	0	0	0	2	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
R. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
King	3-4	0-1	3-4	2	0	3	7
Taylor	0-1	0	3-4	3	0	1	3
Long	1-1	0	0	0	1	0	2
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	19-31	4-9	11-19	21	9	12	61

●●●GILBERT - Corona del Sol●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #6- December 05, 2008
Similar to last season, the Gilbert vs. Corona del Sol match-up was an exciting game for all involved and the outcome was not decided until the final play of the game. At the end of the evening, the Tigers were left standing with a 66-61 double overtime victory and the fans inside the Aztec’s gymnasium were left breathless. The play that typified the excitement in the game came at the end of the first overtime when Corona had the ball under their own basket with .3 seconds on the clock. Andrew Fox caught the inbounds pass and scored, but the shot was correctly disallowed by the officials because Fox had “caught and shot” the ball rather than tipping it in.

In sum, the Aztecs were a bit short handed due to injuries and the Tigers were a bit fatigued facing their third game of the week, but all of the players on both teams did an excellent job of “gutting it out.” The Tigers struggled to find the holes in Corona’s tough match-up zone and were especially hurt by Corona’s offensive rebounding in the second half and overtime. Nevertheless, the Tigers made enough plays, including Elliott Clark’s four point play to begin the second overtime, and found a way to push their record to 6-0 on the season. The duo of Clark and Shawn King led the Tigers in scoring with 25 and 21 points respectively. For the Aztecs, Fox scored 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while teammate Kyle Noon contributed 17 points.

SCORING
Corona del Sol: Noon 17, Whitmore 15, Fox 14, Gomez 11, Logston 2, Smith 2

Gilbert: Clark 25, King 21, Taylor 9, Donzella 5, Ahumada 4, Hutt 2

GILBERT	13	15	12	10	8	8	66
Corona del Sol	12	9	16	13	8	3	61

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	2-6	0-1	0-1	5	3	0	4
Alvarado	0-2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clark	2-5	6-10	3-3	8	4	2	25
Donzella	1-5	1-2	0	2	5	6	5
Guido	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	1-1	0	0-2	2	2	0	2
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	2-3	3-6	8-9	3	1	2	21
Taylor	2-3	0	5-6	6	1	0	9
Long	0-1	0	0	1	1	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	10-26	10-19	18-24	28	17	12	66

●●●GILBERT - MARANA MOUNTAIN VIEW●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #5- December 04, 2008
The Gilbert Tigers struggled to push their record to 5-0 against the Mountain Lions on Thursday night, but got the job done by a score of 54-46. The Tigers simply could not find any offensive rhythm until late in the first half. Gilbert got a lot of good looks at the basket all evening, but simply could not finish, including going 0 for 7 behind the three point arc. Give Mountain View credit for playing strong, disciplined basketball even though they had their own problems with their starting backcourt in foul trouble for most of the game. Not until the last two minutes of the first half did the Tigers find enough offense to grab a 21-18 halftime lead.

The third period saw the Tigers come out aggressive and get their stagnant offense and running game in gear. Senior guard Elliott Clark led the Tigers with 15 points, while classmate Seth Taylor came through on offense for the second game in a row tallying 11 points. The story of the evening though was the play of Mountain View’s interior players, especially 6’6” senior Aarron Anderson who gave Gilbert trouble all game, scoring a game high 21 points. Mountain View refused to quit throughout the fourth quarter and kept the game competitive until the final buzzer sounded.

SCORING
Gilbert: Clark 15, Taylor 11, King 11, Hutt 8, Ahumada 6, Donzella 2, Guido 1

Mountain View (Marana): Anderson 21, Olson 9, Goshen 6, Williams 4, Bartlett 2, Grant 2, Olde 2

GILBERT	7	14	19	14	54
MARANA M.V.	10	8	9	19	46

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
Ahumada	3-4	0-1	0-1	6	0	0	6
Alvarado	0-1	0	0	1	0	0	0
Clark	6-10	0-4	3-5	4	4	1	15
Donzella	0-4	0	2-2	2	3	2	2
Guido	0-1	0	1-2	0	2	1	1
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	3-3	0	2-2	3	2	0	8
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
King	3-12	0-1	5-6	5	1	0	11
Taylor	3-5	0	5-6	3	2	0	11
Long	0	0-1	0	0	0	0	0
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	18-45	0-7	18-24	24	14	4	54

●●●GILBERT - MESA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #4- December 02, 2008
The Gilbert Tigers went back into Jackrabbit Gymnasium Tuesday night and came away with a hard fought 57-49 victory. Just three days ago Gilbert defeated Mesa in the championship game of their “Fear the Hop” Thanksgiving Tournament and faced the difficult task of a repeat performance in a hostile environment. No doubt, the Tigers answered the call by duplicating their performance from Saturday night.

The game began ominously for the Tigers as junior swingman Shawn King picked up two early fouls and was forced to the bench for the rest of the half. Not only had the Tigers lost a key contributor for the rest of the half, but Mesa was playing strong trying to avenge their previous loss to Gilbert and actually had the Tigers in an early 11-3 hole. Fortunately for the Tigers their defense dug in and senior Elliott Clark knocked down a huge three in route to a game high 16 points. Clark’s shot seemed to steady the Tigers and from that point on the game was a back and forth affair. Sophomore Vince Guido gave a great effort filling in for King to close out the first half.

Once again, seniors Eric Donzella and Seth Taylor gave a great effort in trying to hold down Mesa’s 1-2 punch of Donte Medder and Blondy Baruti. Not only did Taylor give his usual “superhero” effort on defense, but stepped up in the second half with some big time offensive rebounds and finishes at the basket versus the athletic 6’ 9” Baruti. As has been the case this season, Gilbert seized the game in the fourth quarter outscoring Mesa 22-16.

SCORING
MESA (2-2): Blondy Baruti 13, Donte Medder 13, Sobh 9, Velazco 8,
Croxen 4, Powell 2

GILBERT (4-0): Elliott Clark 16, Seth Taylor 10, King 8, Ahumada 7, Donzella 6, Guido 6, Alvarado 4

GILBERT	11	11	13	22	57
MESA	13	8	12	16	49

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Donzella	2-7	0-1	2-2	0	1	4	6
Ahumada	2-4	1-3	0	1	0	2	7
Guido	2-2	0-2	2-2	0	1	0	6
Clark	0-4	3-4	7-8	6	3	4	16
King	2-3	1-2	1-2	2	1	2	8
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	2-4	0	0	3	0	0	4
Taylor	4-6	0	2-5	3	1	0	10
Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	14-32	5-12	14-19	18	7	13	57

●●●GILBERT - MESA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #3- November 29, 2008
The Gilbert Tigers defeated the Mesa Jackrabbits in the championship game of the “Fear the Hop” Tournament on Saturday night by a score of 56 to 44. It took the Tigers some time, but as has been the case for the entire tournament, they finally got their running game and offense in gear for the decisive fourth quarter in which they outscored Mesa by ten points (22-12). In fact, the Tigers outscored their opponents in the fourth quarter of each tournament game by a combined score of 63-25.

After a sluggish first quarter in which both teams shot poorly and turned the ball over, the game was highly competitive and exciting the rest of the way. Seniors Eric Donzella and Seth Taylor did an outstanding job all evening covering Mesa’s solid 1-2 punch of Donte Medder and Blondy Baruti. In addition to the solid defense played by the Tigers, senior guard Elliott Clark rediscovered his shooting touch and led all scorers with 21 points. Junior guard Shawn King, the Tigers most consistent offensive threat throughout the tournament, contributed 15 points, while classmate Matt Alvarado played a key roll coming in off the bench and chipping in 6 points against Mesa’s tough defense. Senior swingman Francisco Ahumada overcame early foul trouble to knock down a huge three point shot in the Tiger’s game changing scoring run in the fourth quarter.

SCORING
Mesa: Medder 14, Baruti 8, Sobh 7, Croxen 5, Velasco 4, Powell 3, McClerin 3

Gilbert: Clark 21, King 15, Ahumada 7, Alvarado 6, Taylor 4, Guido 4, R. Hutt 1

GILBERT	5	14	15	22	56
MESA	7	9	16	12	44

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	1	2	0	0
R. Hutt	0	0	1-2	3	1	1	1
Donzella	0-5	0-2	0	3	1	3	0
Ahumada	1-3	1-1	2-2	4	2	3	7
Guido	1-2	0	2-2	0	1	2	4
Clark	8-13	1-5	2-2	7	3	2	21
King	3-7	1-1	4-6	7	4	1	13
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	3-8	0	0	0	0	0	6
Taylor	1-1	0	2-4	2	0	2	4
Carlisle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS	17-39	3-9	13-18	27	14	14	56

●●●GILBERT - DESERT VISTA●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #2- November 26, 2008
Mesa High used a third-quarter surge and Gilbert High a fourth-period outburst to earn berths Wednesday night in the finals of the Fear the Hop Tournament at Mesa High School.

For Gilbert, it was the second game in a row coach Jay Caserio’s squad came up big in the fourth period. The Tigers trailed Dobson by five late in Tuesday’s game and ended up winning by five (68-63). On Wednesday, Desert Vista held a 36-33 lead heading to the fourth period and that’s when the Tigers revved up their game. Junior forward Shawn King again led the charge. King finished with a game-high 24 points, tallying seven of those in the fourth quarter. A 10-0 run over a four-minute span of the final period took Gilbert from a 38-37 deficit to a 47-38 lead.

Gilbert’s Francisco Ahumada added 14 points for the Tigers. Marcus Lever paced Desert Vista with 14 points.

The final score was a 52-42 Gilbert victory.

SCORING
GILBERT: King 24, Ahumada 14, Donzella 7, Clark 4, Alvarado 2, Taylor 1.

DESERT VISTA: Lever 14, Gardner 10, Ellender 8, Paulty 4, Ford 3, Timpani 2, Barlow 1.

GILBERT	10	12	11	19	52
DESERT VISTA	10	13	13	6	42

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	0	0	0	1	2	1	0
Donzella	0-3	0	7-8	3	2	4	7
Ahumada	6-6	0-1	2-2	7	2	1	14
Guido	0	0	0	1	4	2	0
Clark	2-9	0-5	0	7	1	1	4
King	6-7	2-6	6-7	8	2	1	24
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	1-1	0	0	1	0	0	2
Taylor	0-2	0	1-2	4	0	3	1
Carlisle	0	0-1	0	1	0	0	0
TOTALS	15-30	2-12	16-19	33	13	13	52

●●●GILBERT - DOBSON●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Game #1- November 25, 2008
The Gilbert Tigers had their backs against the wall Tuesday night facing a ten point deficit as they entered the fourth quarter against the Dobson Mustangs. The Tiger defense, which had been porous all evening, finally clamped down and with the help of some missed outside shots by Dobson the Tigers clawed out a 68-63 victory in the first round of Mesa High’s “Fear The Hop” Tournament.

The Tigers outscored the Mustangs 22-7 in the decisive fourth quarter. Junior Shawn King had a stellar evening pouring in a game high 26 points. Every time Gilbert needed a bucket, King seemed to have the answer with an array of mid range jump shots, drives to the basket, and offensive rebound put backs. He also clinched the game with two clutch free throws in the waning seconds. Seniors Eric Donzella and Seth Taylor led the way for the Tigers defensively as they drew the assignments on Dobson’s Jarrett Green and John Bailey respectively.

The Tigers now turn their attention to the defending state champion Desert Vista Thunder who they face in the semi finals of the tournament.

SCORING
DOBSON: #5 Bailey 14 #3 Harville 13 #32 Thurston 11 #22 Buechnen 8
#10 Green 6 #21 Benford 5 #23 Heck 4 #43 Wendt 2

GILBERT: #32 King 26 #24 Ahumdad 12 #22 Donzella 11 #31 Clark 9
#40 Alvarado 8 #20 R. Hutt 2

GILBERT	12	15	19	22	68
DOBSON	14	18	24	7	63

PLAYER	2 PT	3 PT	FT	RBND	TO	ASST	PTS
J. Hutt	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Holden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
James	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
R. Hutt	1-3	0	0	2	0	0	2
Donzella	4-9	0-1	3-5	5	3	9	11
Ahumada	5-5	0-1	2-3	9	2	5	12
Guido	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Clark	2-7	1-8	2-2	3	2	2	9
King	10-15	0-2	6-7	6	0	0	26
Long	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Alvarado	4-6	0	0	1	0	0	8
Taylor	0-1	0-1	0	1	0	1	0
Carlisle	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
TOTALS	26-46	1-13	13-17	28	7	17	68

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