HOME ROSTERS SCHEDULE CALENDAR RECAPS

  2021-22 Archives  

#

NAME

HT WT YR
0 Tyler Lubash 6-0 150 SR
1 Landon LaMancusa 6-0 165 SR
2 Elijah Johnson 5-10 160 SR
3 Jaden Acuna 5-11 175 JR
4 Shade Kerr 6-3 190 SR
5 Nikko Pentelute (C) 6-1 185 SR
10 Jaelen Green 6-3 160 SO
11 Isaiah Bronson 6-1 160 SO
15 Aronde Miller 6-0 145 SR
22 Golden Thibaudeau 6-1 175 JR
23 KJ Perry 6-2 170 JR
24 Trey Hollis 6-2 175 SR
32 Reed Shuey (C) 6-6 220 SR
33 Luke Balazentis 6-5 180 JR
  (C) Team Captains
PLAYER PROFILES

 
 
  JR. VARSITY  

#

NAME

HT WT YR
  Bauer Bray     SO
  Jevonte Kidd     SO
  Mason Villela     SO
  Danny Hesse     SO
  Dylan Hunt     SO
  Jackson Kirby     SO
  Nathan Linden     JR
  Reece Dolezal     JR
  Alex Serrano     JR
  Shawn Ban     SO
  Nazir Richardson     SO
  Tyler Latog     SO
  Filip Andric     SO
  JV HEAD COACH
Stevie Newendyke
 
  FRESHMAN  

#

NAME

HT WT YR
  Devone Pless     FR
  Christion Fleming       FR
  Zane Long     FR
  Zayden Chagoya     FR
  Roman Manley     FR
  Blaze Thibaudeau     FR
  Omar Salim     FR
  Grant Goodman     FR
  Amir Pierson     FR
  Parks Garylord     FR
  J'Lynn White     FR
  Nolan Kramer     FR
  Statton Wilson     FR
  Stephon Jordan     FR
  Nash Coons     FR
  HEAD COACH
Jason James
 
  VARSITY  STAFF  
  Varsity Head Coach
Jay Caserio
 
  Assistant Coaches
Scott Newendyke
Clyde Miles
 

 

VARSITY SCHEDULE

 

DATE

HOME OPPONENT SCORE W-L
AWAY
11/22 T

Chandler

70-54 1-0
11/23 T Pinnacle 62-41 2-0
11/24 T Corona del Sol 58-42 3-0
11/26 T Perry 51-45 4-0
11/29 H Mesquite 79-66 5-0

DATE

HOME OPPONENT SCORE W-L
AWAY
12/01 H Desert Mountain 52-42 6-0
12/02 A Desert Ridge 61-43 7-0
12/03 A Buena 55-58 7-1
12/06 A Central 67-25 8-1
12/07 H Highland 70-67 9-1
12/09 A Horizon 61-45 10-1
12/10 H Ironwood 51-46 11-1
12/14 H Apollo 51-53 11-2
12/27 T

Mesa

56-39 12-2
12/28 T McClintock 77-74 13-2
12/29 T Apollo 60-59 14-2
12/30 T Hamilton 48-42 15-2

DATE

HOME OPPONENT SCORE W-L
AWAY
01/07 A Millennium 62-61 16-2
01/10 H Higley 51-41 17-2
01/12 A Campo Verde 67-65 18-2
01/14 H Williams Field 74-39 19-2
01/20 A Casteel 48-44 20-2
01/25 A Higley 48-50 20-3
01/28 H Campo Verde 61-59 21-3
01/31 A Williams Field 70-31 22-3

DATE

HOME OPPONENT SCORE W-L
AWAY
02/07 H Casteel 60-44 23-3

DATE

HOME 5-A POST SEASON SCORE W-L
AWAY
02/16 H Ironwood Ridge 44-33 24-3
02/19 H Apollo 54-48 25-3
02/24 H McClintock 81-76 26-3
03/01 T Centennial 39-46 26-4

 

2021-22 GAME RECAPS

 
 


Gilbert loses 20-point lead, but rallies to beat McClintock in OT to advance to 5A final
February 24, 2022 by Richard Obert, AZ Republic

Gilbert's large gym was overflow. The noise ear-splitting. And the pace frenetic.

Just when it appeared Gilbert was going to blow away from Tempe McClintock, the Chargers made a huge run to erase a 20-point deficit and send the 5A boys basketball semifinal into overtime.

Then, as Gilbert has done all season in close games, it got the ball into the hands of guards Nikko Pentelute, KJ Perry and Isaiah Bronson to close it out.

Knocking down 8 of 9 free throws in the final 2:01 of OT, Gilbert put away third-seed McClintock 81-76 Thursday night to advance to next Tuesday's state championship game against Peoria Centennial at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

"It was crazy," said Penelute, who turned into the team's biggest cheerleader on the bench with two fouls in the first four minutes of the game, as the Tigers built a 20-point lead. "I kept telling my team, 'Stay in and stay in, stay level headed. We're not going home tonight.' "

Trailing 40-20 with 1:55 left in the first half, McClintock remembered how it jumped out to a big lead over Gilbert in the McClintock Holiday Shootout, before Gilbert climbed out of a hole and ended up winning 77-74

Why couldn't McClintock do the same thing at Gilbert?

Point guard Davion Butler, who missed the second half of the season with a shoulder injury before returning in Tuesday's 64-61 quarterfinal win over Millennium, making clutch plays at the end.

Butler hit two 3-pointers, Erenzo Scroggins scored on a breakaway dunk after a steal, Jaylen Wesley went strong to the basket for two and suddenly it was 46-37.

McClintock cut it to 55-50 heading into the final quarter after Butler hit a 3 and Wesley knocked down two 3s in the final minute.

Gilbert seemed back in control with a 66-58 lead after Perry scored on a pullup jumper with 4:11 left.

Wesley's three-point play with 2:15 to play cut Gilbert's lead to 66-63.

After two free throws by Bronson gave Gilbert a six-point lead, Wesley and Pascal Volz knocked down 3s in the final 1:12 to send the game into OT.

McClintock took the lead in OT on Volz's 3-point play.

But Perry responded with a three-point play. McClintock managed only four points, all by Volz, in the final 48 seconds, as Bronson made all four of his free-throw attempts, and Pentelute hit two free throws, and Perry swished in a free throw to seal the win.

Wesley, who had 19 points, fouled out in the final minute, along with Scroggins, who had 20 points. Volz finished with 20 points.

"We fought hard," Wesley said. "It just didn't turn our way in the end."

Gilbert center Reed Shuey with his rebounding and ability to find open teammates on back-door plays under the basket was instrumental in building the 20-point lead, along with Shade Kerr.

Kerr replaced Pentelupe and scored eight points in the second quarter.

"We tried to slow the game down, get it into our big guy, be really strong with the ball, and get back on defense," Kerr said. "That was our main focus."

Petelupe said he knew McClintock would make a run.

"We did it to them, there was no reason they wouldn't do it to us," he said. "Just keep going. That's our mentality all year.

"We played a lot of close games. We know how to close. Our point guard Isaiah, our team took care of the ball at the end."

Shuey said he expected another thriller against McClintock.

"The first time we played them, they were tough then, and I didn't expect anything less," Shuey said.

Shuey said it felt like a state championship game with the standing-room only crowd.

"I've never seen this gym packed out like this before, so, yeah, it did feel that way," Shuey said. "But we've got one more to go."
 

Congrats to the following Tigers and their San Tan Region Awards:
Coach of the Year (COY)
Jay Caserio
Gilbert Tigers

Player of the Year
1st Team

- Nikko Pentelute

1st Team
- KJ Perry

2nd Team
- Reed Shuey

Honorable Mention
- Landon LaMancusa
- Shade Kerr
- Eli Johnson



 

Higley win-streak ends vs. Gilbert
January 10, 2022 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365

One winning streak ended while another continued Monday night as Higley and Gilbert engaged in a 5A San Tan Region game at Gilbert High.

Gilbert got cooking in the second quarter to open up a double-digit lead by halftime and kept that margin most of the second half in defeating Higley, 51-41.

Gilbert's victory snapped Higley's 10-game winning streak. The Tigers pulled off their sixth win in a row, a streak that began with four wins and the title of the McClintock Holiday Shootout Dec. 27-30. Gilbert improved its overall record to 17-2 and is 1-0 in region. Higley (12-3, 1-1) hadn't lost since Nov. 27 when it played in the Phoenix Union District Invite to begin the season.

A slow start to the game saw Gilbert trail 2 1/2 minutes in, 8-2. The Tigers battled back with six players scoring in the first quarter for an 11-10 advantage. The second quarter was Gilbert's best as it outscored Higley, 18-8. That same scoring balance continued with Nikko Pentelute, Reed Shuey and KJ Perry netting four points apiece. Elijah Johnson and Tyler Lubash each sank a three as the Tigers gained firm control at 29-18.

Higley made a brief bid at a comeback early in the third period by scoring the quarter's first five points to trim the deficit to six. A pair of threes by Johnson helped Gilbert push the lead back comfortably to 41-27 with the final quarter to play. Higley couldn't make much headway, paring Gilbert's lead under briefly at 41-33 with 5:30 to go.

Gilbert had five players score between 12 and 7 points. Johnson led with 12 (four threes), Pentelute and Shuey were next with 10 and Perry and Isaiah Bronson chipped in with seven apiece. Yarell Greer topped Higley in scoring with 11 points, followed by Kameron Bender with 10 and Sunny Xepera with eight.

 

Gilbert claims McClintock Shootout crown
December 30, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365

Two invitationals in the 2021-2022 season. Two first-place trophies for Gilbert's boys basketball team.

The Tigers added the McClintock Holiday Shootout to their triumphs on Thursday night. They knocked off Hamilton, 48-42, in the tourney final at McClintock High.

Gilbert was led by seniors Nikko Pentelute and Reed Shuey, both of whom earned all-tournament honors. Pentelute was accorded tournament Most Valuable Player recognition. Gilbert also won its own Welcome to the Jungle Invite during the Thanksgiving break. The Tigers are 15-2 for the season and Hamilton is 14-3.

Pentelute led all scorers Thursday in the title game with 21 points. All his points came via threes (five) or free throws (6 of 6). All six free throws were tallied in the final 42 seconds as Hamilton opted to foul to get the ball back trailing, 41-39, with 45 seconds to go. Shuey added 14 points, doing his usual scoring in the paint.

Hamilton trailed virtually the entire game and by as many as eight points (35-27) late in the third period. The Huskies entered the final quarter down 37-34 and managed one brief lead in the fourth, 38-37. They scored back-to-back baskets (Daimon Denning and Jalen Lee) for that advantage that lasted 25 seconds. Shuey scored his final basket of the night with 5:27 to go and the Tigers were never headed again.

All-tournament selection Quincy Adams paced Hamilton with 16 points, all of those in the first three quarters. Adams fouled out with 1:09 to play after picking up four consecutive fouls trying to get Gilbert to the free-throw line. Daimon Denning also scored in double figures for the Huskies with 15 points.

Six players comprised the all-tournament team announced after the title game. Joining Pentelute, Shuey and Adams were Apollo's Ahamed Mohamed, Basha's Torin Bosch and McClintock's Jaylen Wesley.

In the other games played on Day 4 in the Shootout, the host Chargers claimed fifth place with an 88-65 win over Highland. Basha defeated Mesa High, 66-42, for the consolation title and Apollo bested Ironwood, 60-41, for third place.


Gilbert advances to Shootout final
December 29, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365

Gilbert High and Hamilton earned their way to the title game of the McClintock Holiday Shootout on Wednesday night with tight victories over Apollo and Ironwood, respectively.

Nikko Pentelute's three-point play with one second left lifted Gilbert past Apollo, 60-59. Hamilton outscored Ironwood, 17-6, in the third quarter to erase a halftime deficit in a 45-39 triumph over Ironwood at McClintock High.

Gilbert and Hamilton bring 14-2 records to Thursday's 7 p.m. championship game at Doc Zinke Gymnasium. Apollo and Ironwood square off at 5:30 for third place. Highland and McClintock meet at 2:30 p.m. for fifth place and Basha and Mesa High battle for the consolation title at 4 p.m. on the tourney's final day.

Gilbert trailed Apollo 32-14 at halftime and put itself back in the game by cutting the deficit in half (42-33) heading to the final period. Seniors Pentelute and Reed Shuey spearheaded the comeback. Both players were scoreless at halftime. They rebounded scoring 29 of the Tigers 46 second-half points. Pentelute finished with 16 points to lead Gilbert, Shuey added 13 and KJ Perry chipped in with 14 - 10 of his points in the second half.

It was an uphill battle all the way for Gilbert, which tied the game 3-3 in the first quarter and never led until the game's final basket. Gilbert trailed by 11 with seven minutes left in the game.

The Tigers tied it one other time (57-all) in the final 30 seconds on a Perry basket. Apollo standout Ahamed Mohamed's two free throws with eight seconds left put the Hawks up two, but Pentelute followed with the game winner. Apollo fired up a desperation shot at the buzzer to no avail.

Mohamed led all scorers with 23 points. Teammates Bobby Holcomb (11 points) and Joshon Person (10 points) joined Mohamed in double figures.


Gilbert rallies in 4th to top McClintock

December 28, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365

Making free throws is always critical from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Gilbert High was the victor in that department Tuesday night and it helped the Tigers defeat host McClintock at its Holiday Shootout.

Gilbert sank 6 of 6 free throws in the final minute and 11 of 12 in the fourth quarter allowing the Tigers to rally past McClintock, 77-74.

Gilbert (13-2) trailed 59-55 heading to the final period. They gradually pecked away at the four-point deficit and took the lead for good, 71-70 with 2:28 to play as the Tigers Nikko Pentelute made one of two free throws. McClintock's PJ Volz missed two free throws with 1:10 to go, but Gilbert responded with four free throws off the bench from Isaiah Bronson sandwiched around two by Pentelute.

Bronson's last two tosses pushed Gilbert's advantage to 77-74 with 10.9 seconds left. McClintock managed to attempt two, three-point shots (one each by Jaylen Wesley and EJ Scroggins) on its final possession. Neither was on the mark. Game totals from the free-throw line - Gilbert 15 of 19 and McClintock 10 of 20.

Gilbert had four starters scored in double figures - Pentelute 21, Reed Shuey 20, KJ Perry 19 and Shade Kerr 11. McClintock was led by Wesley (24 points), Scroggins (20 points) and Davion Butler (14 points).

Gilbert advances to Wednesday's semifinals to face Apollo, which advanced after its Tuesday opponent Mountain Pointe withdrew from the tourney. One of Gilbert's two losses this season was to Apollo two weeks ago. That game is set for 5:30 p.m. The other semifinal is at 7 p.m. matching Hamilton and Ironwood.

Hamilton advanced with a 53-44 win over Desert Mountain and Ironwood got past Highland, 61-55. Hamilton's Quincy Adams scored a team-high 17 points. Aaron Foote added 11, sinking 3 of 4 threes. Michael DeHorney rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Huskies with 10 points. Desert Mountain's Easton Reagan tallied a game-high 22 points. Ironwood was paced by Ringo Aguet's 14 points and 12 from Jordan Kuac. Highland's AJ Riggs connected for a game-high 23 points.


Gilbert boys basketball team off to fast start behind tough defense, unselfish play

Richard Obert - Arizona Republic - ORIGINAL STORY & PIX

Gilbert is always good in basketball. But did anybody expect the Tigers to be this good?

They've won their first six games, beat Gilbert Perry (51-45) — one of the top contenders to win the 6A title — to win its holiday tournament last week, and kept Scottsdale Desert Mountain top scorer Easton Reagan in check Tuesday night for a 52-42 win at home.

What the Tigers have done early on already has the student section looking like it is in January form.

Usually, big crowds don't come out until after the Christmas holidays, when power-point games and region rivals make the match-ups more intriguing.
But this team is special and the students know it.

They play with intensity, a fire on defense, and make every opposing shot tough to come by.

Even though Gilbert Mesquite senior guard Nate Calmese went off for 37 points against Gilbert, it took 35 shots for him to get that, and Gilbert won the game 79-66.

The Tigers aren't very big. They have 6-6, 220-pound Reed Shuey in the post. They have a terrific point guard in senior Nikko Pentelute, who was named the Most Valuable Player of Gilbert's Welcome to the Jungle tournament. Junior guard KJ Perry is a tough defender who can score.

Pentelute and Perry both are averaging 18 points a game. Pentelute and Shuey each average eight rebounds.

Coach Jay Caserio knows how to get the most out of his entire roster, get them to play team basketball on both ends of the court.

"Our senior leadership and experience are keys to our success," Caserio said.

Desert Mountain will be good this year. Coach Mark Schumaker does a great job, and Reagan is a leader on and off the court. At halftime, the Wolves led Gilbert by six, and had a one-point lead at the start of the final quarter.

"Coach Shumaker took us completely out of everything we wanted to do on offense and dominated the glass in the first half," Caserio said. "We finally started to take care of the ball in the second half, kept them off the lass and executed the offense with some timely 3s."

Gilbert plays against Thursday night at Mesa Desert Ridge. The Tigers are in the midst of playing eight games in 14 days, before taking a break and getting ready for the McClintock tournament Dec. 27.

This unselfish team is built to handle this kind of grind.

"They are so solid on both ends, dictate pace, and make great adjustments," Schumaker said of Gilbert. "We were doing a great job against their best guys, and they had some role guys step up.

"They don't beat themselves. Make very few mistakes. You have to be on your game and have a great game plan."

 

Welcome to the Jungle - Day 3
November 24, 2021 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365

Perry and Gilbert continued to bludgeon opponents on Day 3 of the Welcome to the Jungle Holiday Tournament at Gilbert High.

Both schools finished 3-0 and earned the right to face off in Friday's tourney title game at 5 p.m. at Gilbert HS. Gilbert took down Corona del Sol, 58-42. Perry followed that with the last game of Day 3 by punishing Mesa Mountain View, 72-34.

Gilbert won its three games by an average of 18 points. The Tigers knocked off Chandler, Pinnacle and Corona. Perry was even more dominating with an average margin of victory a whopping 37 points. The Pumas victims were Desert Ridge, Valley Vista and Mountain View.

Gilbert took the suspense out of its game Wednesday with Corona del Sol jumping to an 18-2 lead after the first quarter. The Tigers lead never dipped below double digits nearly the entire game. Senior guard Nikko Pentelute paced Gilbert with 20 points and got ample assistance from fellow starters KJ Perry, Reed Shuey and Golden Thibaudeau. Perry and Shuey scored 11 points apiece and Thibaudeau added nine. All nine of his were in the first half. Corona del Sol's top scorers were Quinn Thorne (9 points) and Raymond Lam (8 points).

Perry had six players score in the first quarter in its win over Mountain View. Koa Peat (6), Dylan Anderson (5) and at least a basket or free throw from Elijah Burlend, Kyle Waters, Cody Williams and Ben Egbo forged a 19-6 advantage after the first eight minutes. Anderson and Williams got cooking in the second period, combining for 16 of the Pumas 24 points in the quarter. Their lead at intermission was 43-14. Anderson finished with a game-high 16 points and Williams and Peat tallied 14 points each. Peyton Rule led Mountain View with 13 points.

 

 

 

GAME DAY GALLERY

 

 

Gilbert vs. Desert Mountain - 12/01/21
Photos by Zac BonDurant - ORIGINAL STORY & MORE PIX

 

 


 

Perry
PUMAS

Chandler
WOLVES

Mountain View
TOROS

Gilbert
TIGERS

Desert Ridge
JAGUARS

Valley Vista
MONSOON

Pinnacle
PIONEERS

Corona del Sol
AZTECS
MON HOME   AWAY  
3:30p

Desert Ridge (34)

vs

(75) Perry

 
5:00p

Valley Vista (66)

vs

(54) Mountain View

 
6:30p

Gilbert (70)

vs

(54) Chandler

 
8:00p

Pinnacle (60)

vs

(65) Corona del Sol

 
  DAY 1 RECAPS  
TUE HOME   AWAY  
3:30p

Chandler (30)

vs

(57) Corona del Sol

 
5:00p

Perry (73)

vs

(39) Valley Vista

 
6:30p

Gilbert (62)

vs

(41) Pinnacle

 
8:00p

Desert Ridge (50)

vs

(63) Mountain View

 
  DAY 2 RECAPS  
WED HOME   AWAY  
3:30p

Valley Vista (72)

vs

(52) Desert Ridge

 
5:00p

Pinnacle (56)

vs

(52) Chandler

 
6:30p

Gilbert (58)

vs

(42) Corona del Sol

 
8:00p

Mountain View (34)

vs

(72) Perry

 
  DAY 3 RECAPS  
FRI HOME   AWAY  
12:30p

Desert Ridge (50)

vs

(37) Chandler

 
2:00p

Pinnacle (55)

vs

(50) Mountain View

 
3:30p

Corona del Sol (52)

vs

(60) Valley Vista

 
5:00p

Gilbert (51)

vs

(45) Perry

 
2021 Welcome to the Jungle Champions
  All Tournament Team  

Gilbert - KJ Perry, Reed Shuey, Nikko Pentelute (MVP)

Perry - Dylan Anderson Cody Williams
   

Valley Vista-Adam Isai / Corona - Quinn Thorne

Desert Ridge-Devin Miller / Chandler-Eydrus Muse
   

MTV-Connor Cook / Pinnacle -Aston Reese
 
 


GILBERT HIGH SCHOOL
1101 E. Elliot Rd.
Gilbert, AZ 85234
(480) 497-0177 Ext. 169
GILBERT PUBLIC SCHOOLS