Mark Lawson for Tucsoncitizen.com

NOGALES: Being able to call yourself a back-to-back champion is no easy accomplishment in anything, let alone high school basketball. The 10th-seeded Nogales Apaches began their quest for yet another state title Thursday night, as they hosted the 23rd seeded Casa Grande Cougars.

An always raucous atmosphere inside the Apache gym, the playoff atmosphere was no different. It seemed as though the whole town converged upon the gym to watch their Apaches. Cheerleaders and dancers were in attendance for both schools, and you really got the feel and atmosphere of a playoff contest. The contest was a matchup of two of the top tandems in the state, in Joseph Monreal and Cesar Solis of Nogales, and Jonathan Milligan and Amon Schenk of Casa Grande. Milligan, a senior, is a three-star prospect on most recruiting websites, and is drawing interest from schools such as Clemson and Oregon St., and has offers from Idaho and Fresno State, amongst others.

Monreal and Solis average just over thirty points per game combined, while Milligan and Schenk average just over forty. The matchup drew the eyes of coach Jerry Carrillo of Cochise, and coach Chris Klassen of Pima, both of whom were in attendance.

The game started in favor of Nogales, as Monreal and Solis each hit a three to pace Nogales to a quick 6-0 lead. The 3-2 matchup zone of Nogales flustered Casa Grande to open the game, Schenk and Milligan both fought through and hit contested jumpers to cut the lead to 8-4 at the first timeout. Milligan found it tough to get a good driving lane or shot, and Schenk had to carry the load. A back and fourth first quarter led to Nogales taking a 16-13 lead at the end of the quarter.

The second quarter saw an adjustment from Nogales into a 2-3 zone, and was completely dominated by the Apaches. A Monreal banked in three pointer to start the quarter was only a sign of things to come. As Nogales tried to pull away in the early minutes, once again Casa Grande relied on Schenk to pick up the slack. Jumpers on the first two Cougar possessions from Schenk cut the lead back to five, before the flood gates opened. Monreal was the man of the quarter, as his jumper at the three minute mark stretched the lead to 33-21, the biggest of the game at that point. Sloppy ball handling led to back-to-back turnovers and easy fast break layups to close the half for Nogales, as they went into the locker room up 37-21.

The third quarter was the same story for Casa Grande; get the ball to Schenk. A quick five from him cut into the Nogales lead, and the Apaches inability to finish layups and shots at the rim allowed the Cougars to get back into the game. A Milligan steal and layup cut the lead back down to eight, the first time Casa Grande was within single digits since the early part of the second quarter. A bad foul with 1.1 seconds left in the quarter led to two free throws for Schenk, and the lead was cut to six, 53-47, going into the fourth.

A three by Eleazar Velasquez opened the quarter for Casa Grande, who cut the lead down to just three. Monreal, the captain of the Apaches, was not about to let the team blow the lead however. “I knew if we kept playing our defense and moving the ball around, we would find open people. My teammates just did a good job of finding me when I got hot,” said Monreal.

He hit two jumpers in a row to bring the lead back up to seven with five minutes left. A Milligan split at the line then led to a three from Monreal, which led to an eruption from the home crowd. The lead was pushed back up to 62-55.

A free throw contest then ensued for about the next minute, with each team trading multiple fouls. Monreal then put the game out of reach with a runner, and back-to-back layups by Andres Marques stretched the lead back up to double digits. Nogales never looked back, and went on to an 83-65 win, in a game much closer than the score indicated.

Solis and Monreal after the game spoke highly of their team, never ones to take the credit for themselves, and knew the importance of the state run last year in their success this year. “We bonded together over that run, found out each others strengths and weaknesses, and knew what would be ahead.” said Solis, with Monreal also speaking on the immense chemistry the team shares “We practice hard, and do everything as a family, which is what we are.”

Schenk led all scores with 23, followed by 22 from Monreal. Marquez had 16 and Solis had 13 for Nogales, while Milligan pitched in with 17 for Casa Grande. The road for the 10th-seeded Apaches gets no easier Saturday, as a trip up to Paradise Valley to meet the 7-seeded Trojans, and top-50 recruit Paul Watson.

Mark Lawson has lived in Tucson his whole life. He graduated from Palo Verde in 2011 and is currently at Pima working towards a degree in Journalism before he moves on to the University of Arizona.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 7:22 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.