Citizen Staff Report and The Arizona Republic

GLENDALE – While No. 4 Goodyear Millennium High School spent just shy of 3 1/2 hours to stun top-seeded Scottsdale Chaparral 5-2 Friday, No. 2 Catalina Foothills made fast work of upstart Prescott High 5-0 in boys tennis.

The two meet at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Paseo Racquet Center for the 4A-I state championship. Foothills has won the last four state titles.

Foothills swept the three doubles and got quick victories from Mike Tringali (6-0, 6-2) and Ravi Ram (6-0, 6-2) in singles.

“People might think (Foothills) has an advantage (getting off the court early), but the advantage for us is realizing we belong here,” Millennium coach Mo Tafolla said. “We’ve put ourselves on the map by reaching the state finals, our first ever.”

Despite its mastery of Prescott, Foothills coach Robb Salant wasn’t overly pleased.

“I wasn’t happy with how we played,” Salant said. “We can’t just come out and throw our racquets out there and expect to win. We have to work. Millennium is a scrappy team. I probably don’t like our chances as much as I did before I saw them play. Don’t get me wrong. I still like our chances and I’m glad I’m coaching this team.”

4A-I girls tennis

The only thing standing in the way of No. 4 Scottsdale Chaparral and a clean sweep of all three 4A-I girls tennis titles is No. 2 Catalina Foothills.

Last weekend, Chaparral’s Nikki Parker brought home the state singles title, and Molly Ruby and Elizabeth Hammond won doubles.

Friday at the Paseo Racquet Center in Glendale, Chaparral beat No. 1 Goodyear Millennium 5-3 to advance to team finals.

After Chaparral moved on, Catalina Foothills beat No. 6 Phoenix Sunnyslope 5-2 to set up Saturday’s 2 p.m. championship.

The highlight of the afternoon will be when Parker faces Catalina Foothills’ Zaina Sufi in a rematch of last weekend’s singles championship.

Sufi knows she needs to change things up in order to come out on top.

“I need to wait for my shots,” Sufi said. “Last time I forced it too much.

“I’m excited for it. She’s great, but I want another shot at her.”

Catalina Foothills won two of its three doubles matches to start its match and was never trailing at any time.

4A-II Boys tennis

The Palo Verde boys tennis team set the tone early in its match against Scottsdale Notre Dame on Friday, winning two out of three doubles matches in the 4A Division II semifinals at the Paseo Racquet Center.

But Notre Dame, the No. 2 seed, climbed back into it, tying the best of nine match at 4 in singles action before Palo Verde’s Anthony Monestero clinched the win, beating John Blumenreich 6-3, 6-3.

The 5-4 win puts No. 3 Palo Verde in Saturday’s championship match vs. No. 4 Chandler Seton Catholic, which upset No. 1 Scottsdale Arcadia 5-4 on Friday.

Saturday’s championship starts at 11 a.m. at the Paseo Racquet Center.

1A baseball

The Tanque Verde baseball team dominated its opening-round game Friday in the Class 1A state playoffs, beating Flagstaff Northland Prep 10-1 behind a 12-strikeout performance from pitcher Josh King, who also drove in a pair of runs.

Tanque Verde will play Pima at Tempe Diablo Complex 2 p.m. Saturday.

Foothills boys, girls, Palo Verde boys reach state tennis finals

Class 4A tennis championships

Three Tucson teams will play for Class 4A tennis team championships Saturday at Glendale’s Paseo Racquet Center.

Class 4A Division I – Boys

No. 2 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 4 Goodyear Millennium, 2 p.m.

Class 4A Division I – Girls

No. 2 Catalina Foothills vs. No. 4 Scottsdale Chaparral, 2 p.m.

Class 4A Division II – Boys

No. 3 Palo Verde vs. No. 4 Chandler Seton Catholic, 11 a.m.

Baseball/softball

There are 26 southern Arizona Class 4A and Class 5A baseball and softball teams in state playoff action Saturday around Arizona.

For updates on those games and all the small school state tournament action, log onto www.tucsoncitizen.com/blog Saturday for updates.

Former Santa Rita High wrestler Shawn Charles, a four-time All-American and two-time national runner-up at Arizona State, has been hired as the sixth head coach in the 47-year history of ASU’s program.

Charles, a native of Tucson, spent the past two seasons as assistant coach at Missouri. Previous career stops include one season as head coach at Fresno State, which disbanded its program, and assistant coaching stints at Brown, Nebraska, Central Michigan, Oklahoma and Iowa State.

He also served on the U.S. Olympic coaching staff in 2004 and 2008 and on the 2009 University World Team staff.

“I am excited to be back at my alma mater and to be the guy to put it all together and make Arizona State successful once again,” Charles said.

“One of my goals is to get the community involved with our program. I really believe that wrestling is a viable form of entertainment and I would really like to see the communities around Arizona get involved in supporting this form of entertainment.”

The Arizona Republic

Although almost all of this week’s budget debate split along party lines (Republicans in favor, Democrats opposed), there was one island of tranquility where the warring parties put down their spears and united in a bipartisan rendition of “Kumbaya.”

Bringing us this moment of karmic come-togetherness is freshman Rep. Matt Heinz, D-Tucson. His idea is that the state should reduce by one year the length of time it holds unclaimed property. By doing so, the state could reap a one-time windfall of $40 million to $50 million, he estimates, because it could tap those unclaimed resources a year earlier.

“I know it’s a little gimmicky,” Heinz said in his best aw-shucks voice.

But members of the House Appropriations Committee liked it and adopted it as an amendment. Hey, that’s $40 million less in budget cuts, no small feat for a lawmaker, let alone a freshman.

The Arizona Republic

Citizen Staff Report and The Arizona Republic

On the first day of the Class 4A Gila Region track championship, Catalina High School’s Owai Khairandesh set a meet record of 1 minute, 58.19 seconds in the 800 meters Thursday at Amphi.

Teammate Daniel McIver edged Sahuarita’s Daniel Conorque in the high jump, clearing 6-feet, 6-inches to Conorque’s 6-4. Each jump surpassed Conorque’s 2008 meet record of 6-2.

Catalina’s boys lead second place Rio Rico 74-43 heading into Saturday’s final day of action.

In the girls meet, Catalina’s Magda Mankel (12:06.23) beat Rio Rico’s Aeoleone Bristow (12:27.92) in the 3,200.

Catalina’s girls (42) are beating Rio Rico (23) after four events.

Softball: 5A playoffs

At Phoenix’s Rose Mofford Park, No. 6 Salpointe Catholic beat No. 10 Mesa Dobson 5-1 to advance in the 5A Division I elimination bracket.

The Lancers play No. 11 Tempe Corona del Sol at Tempe Marcos de Niza High School at noon Saturday.

No. 5 Yuma Cibola 1, No. 16 Rincon/University 0 (9 innings): At Phoenix, Rincon’s ride ended Thursday when Cibola’s Alexis Gorman hit a one-out, ninth-inning single that scored Isabella Olea for the game’s only run.

Rincon (19-14) pitcher Kelsi Redding struck out 12 hitters.

“Rincon’s pitcher kept us off- balance,” Cibola coach Shelly Bauman said. “She did her job. It was tough.”

Baseball: 5A playoffs

Ironwood Ridge (17-13), the 15th seed, sent 16 batters to the plate in the top of the fifth inning, scoring 11 runs on 10 hits and beat No. 11 Tolleson 14-0 in five innings in a 5A-II elimination game.

“If this was video game, we would have unplugged it a long time ago and started over,” Tolleson coach Scott Richardson said.

Ironwood Ridge pitcher Kyle Kilgore allowed two hits while battling stomach flu all week.

“In the beginning of the game, I felt a little queasy,” he said. “But as the game went on, the nerves came down and adrenaline took over. I had my stuff today.”

Ironwood Ridge plays Peoria Centennial at 1 p.m. Saturday at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

(5A-II) No. 6 Peoria Centennial 5, No. 7 Sunnyside 2: The Blue Devils finish the season at 21-10.

(5A-I) No. 12 Salpointe 9, No. 9 Mesa Red Mountain 6: Michael Duarte went 3 for 4 with three RBIs for Salpointe, which plays No. 4 Phoenix Desert Vista at Phoenix Municipal Stadium at 4 p.m. Saturday.

The Arizona Republic

GLENDALE – It was an all Ironwood Ridge matchup in the Class 5A Division II boys doubles championship with No. 1 Timothy Holten and Dillon Kennedy defeating No. 2 Josh Taylor and Conor Spiegel 7-5, 6-1 for their second straight title.

Both sides came out strong in the first set, but Holten and Kennedy stepped it up in the second set against the familiar faces.

“It’s very odd facing your teammates,” Holten said. “But I’m glad they made it there too. It was a good battle.”

Kennedy thought the match was a good sign for Ironwood Ridge, which last week won its second straight team championship.

“It just shows how strong our team is that two of us can get that deep in the tournament,” Kennedy said. “It’s nice, but at the same time, it’s hard to see your teammates go down.”

Kennedy had a strong serve all match long, and Holten kept tracking down shots to his left and right with ease. The chemistry proved once again to be a winning combination.

“It’s awesome,” Kennedy said. “Two years in a row doesn’t happen very often so it’s special.”

Classmate Shannon Contreras fell 6-2, 6-0 in the 5A-II girls singles championship to Phoenix Pinnacle’s Priscilla Annoul.

Contreras, the team captain, earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and advanced to the championship despite a large blister developing on her hand during Friday’s quarterfinal match.

5A-I girls

Senior Maggie McGeorge fell to Tempe Corona del Sol’s Kelsey Lawson 6-1, 6-1 in the Class 5A Division I singles championship.

Salpointe coach Perri Touché will lose McGeorge to graduation, and that loss brought on a few tears Saturday. She coached McGeorge throughout her career and thinks of her as one of her own.

“She’s been very successful on and off the court,” Touché said. “You name it, this kid has done it. It’s been an honor.”

Touché did have reason to celebrate and look forward. Her doubles team, a pair of freshmen cousins, earned the state title with a 7-6 (8-6), 6-1 victory over Xavier.

The girls, Lauren and Courtney Amos, battled through and won a first-set tiebreaker, which proved the turning point in the match.

Touché had a feeling the girls would win.

“The kids kind of got it,” she said, referring to the tiebreak. “They had momentum, and they were doing exactly what they were supposed to do.”

The Arizona Republic

PHOENIX – You might say they were poised for perfection.

The St. Gregory College Preparatory School boys tennis team completed a perfect season Saturday by beating Phoenix Valley Lutheran, 5-0, in the Class 1A championship at Phoenix Tennis Center.

St. Gregory went 15-0 this year to capture its second straight title.

“We definitely knew we had a good chance of bringing home the state title,” St. Gregory’s Jason Huo said after enduring a 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) win over Ben Meyer at No. 1 singles to seal the team title.

“We pulled through at the end. It’s a very gratifying moment for me and my team to win a state title.”

Three of St. Gregory’s wins came against 4A and 5A schools – a scheduling tactic coach Mark Swenson intends to continue.

St. Gregory’s Jess Weinstein beat T.J. Mendenhall, 6-0, 6-0, at No. 3 singles. Ryan Shainen beat Ben Bolognini, 6-1, 6-0, at No. 4. Youngwoo Seo beat Joel Kosberg, 6-0, 6-1, at No. 5. Chase Gerwin beat John Watson, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 6.

“I’m really happy with the season, not only with winning the state title, but doing well against the big schools,” Swenson said. “It feels important because we’re among the elite.”

Huo fell behind 6-5 in the second set before forcing a tie-breaker.

“Ben’s got an extremely solid forehand that I’ve got to look out for,” Huo said, adding he felt pressure to win the team’s decisive fifth point when he and teammate Sang Seo were still locked into long matches.

“It makes me really anxious. I had a fear of losing. One of us had to pull it out.”

The Arizona Republic

GLENDALE – Born 367 days apart, a pair of Palo Verde High School brothers battled it out Saturday in the Class 4A Division II tournament singles final.

With a powerful left-handed serve, the taller, younger Carlos Bermudez returned from a deficit to win the first set 6-4, then coasted in the second 6-1.

The top-seeded sophomore said he took pleasure in winning the tense match against brother Dominic, a sixth-seeded junior who won the individual championship as a freshman in 2007.

“I think he was nervous because I beat him last week, too,” Carlos said, referring to a win the 4A Gila Region championship. “(Our rivalry) goes back and forth, but, recently, I’ve been winning.”

The self-officiated match quickly became a heated one. Long rallies were often completed with close calls, brothers muttering under their breath and slapping their rackets against their thighs.

The competitors went through two different line judges after disagreements on calls. In between games they sat side-by-side on the bench, though neither looked tempted to speak to the other.

After graciously shaking hands at the end, Carlos was all smiles.

“This is what the school has been wanting,” he said. “The kids on the team want to win state, too.”

Palo Verde is a three seed in the team portion of the tournament and needs a win against Cottonwood Mingus on Tuesday to reach the semifinal.

4A-I boys

In a matchup of two friends and Catalina Foothills teammates, Zack Haffor got an early break in the first set against Daniel Hyman and rode that momentum to a 6-4, 6-3 win in the 4A Division I boys singles championship.

Just a short time earlier on a neighboring court at the Paseo Racquet Center, Goodyear Millennium’s Hunter and Yates Johnson topped Foothills’ Michael Tringali and Ravi Ram to capture the doubles championship.

Haffor and Hyman had to contend with fatigue after both played three-set matches in the semifinal round, and then in the championship both had to deal with the midday heat and moderate humidity on the near 90-degree afternoon.

“It was tougher than I thought,” Haffor said of the conditions. “But once I got that break in the first set, the momentum flipped and I was able to go from there.”

Haffor, the top seed, and Hyman, the No. 2 seed, each held serve in the first set before Haffor got that key break to enable him to take the first set, 6-4. Haffor didn’t let up after that, breaking Hyman’s serve twice more in the early going of the second set and then cruising to the championship.

While Haffor was happy to come away with the championship, beating his friend and teammate Hyman was bittersweet.

“It’s good because we’re really good friends,” Haffor said. “But it’s kind of tough because you’ve still got to drive back (to Tucson) together, knowing one of you won and one of you lost.”

Meanwhile, Millennium’s freshman twins, Hunter and Yates Johnson, took home the doubles championship with a 6-3, 6-3 win.

Despite looking physically overmatched against the Foothills seniors Tringali and Ram, both of whom are more than 6 feet tall, the Johnson twins kept their opponents off balance with their array of volleys and groundstrokes to come away with the title.

4A-I girls

In her first year of playing high school tennis, third-ranked Nikki Parker of Scottsdale Chaparral upset the No. 1 seed, Zaina Sufi of Catalina Foothills, 6-4, 6-4 in the 4A-I singles title match in Glendale.

Sufi put the first games up in each set, but 15-year-old Parker was consistent, never falling more than a game behind.

“I just kept pushing every point,” Parker said. “I kept playing and being aggressive. I gave it all I had. Everything. I left it all out there.”

The Arizona Republic

Cactus League fans spent an estimated $359.5 million in 2009, a 7 percent increase over last year, giving Arizona an economic boost at a time when it needed help the most.

Two new teams, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cleveland Indians, helped contribute to the increase, as did the addition of a week’s worth of games. The Cactus League played 246 games in 2009 during a five-week season, compared with 177 during four weeks in 2008. This year’s numbers included 11 World Baseball Classic exhibition games, which, for the most part, were sparsely attended.

While the net attendance was up 20 percent, per-game attendance dropped about 1,000 from a year ago. But last spring was a particularly strong season and missed the fallout from the recession, which took hold in the summer and fall, said Robert Brinton, the Cactus League’s president.

In Tucson, the Arizona Diamondbacks drew 121,281 fans to 18 games and the Colorado Rockies drew 75,557 to 16 games.

The Chicago White Sox, who played their first season in Glendale after moving from Tucson, drew 91,782 fans to 15 games.

“Spring training delivered at a time when we really needed it,” Brinton said. “It’s the spring-training stimulus package, better than a government one. It’s like having a Super Bowl every year.”

Cactus League officials estimated that the economic impact of fan spending was $335 million in 2008 and $311 million in 2007.

According to Major League Baseball, overall spring-training attendance in both the Cactus League and Florida’s Grapefruit League was up 3.3 percent.

Arizona’s 20 percent increase more than offset Florida’s 7 percent decrease.

The Grapefruit League surpassed the Cactus League in total attendance, but that is likely to change next year when the Cincinnati Reds move to Goodyear, joining the Cleveland Indians.

SPRING SPIKE

Attendance at the Cactus League’s 246 games in 2009 was 1.58 million, up from 1.32 million at 177 games for 12 teams in 2008. Average attendance for the league’s 14 teams fell from 7,436 per game in 2008 to 6,418 in 2009.

Average attendance in 2009 :

1. Cubs 10,690

2. Dodgers 9,130

3. Giants 8,476

4. Mariners 6,927

5. Diamondbacks 6,738

6. White Sox 6,119

14. Rockies 4,722

*Excludes 2009 World Baseball Classic games.

SPORTS SOUND-OFF

UA hoops fans optimistic about Miller era

Re: UA basketball team will have buzz . . . in weaker Pac-10

• I have a lot of faith in the ability of new UA coach Sean Miller and his staff – more than I had in Lute Olson in the past few years. However, I think you are underestimating the rest of the Pac-10. A lot will depend on how many more recruits Miller lands in the next month. Right now, he needs more bodies to hold a decent practice. I look for the Cats to start slowly as the players and Miller get to know each other and finish strong at the end. Who knows if that will be enough? I prefer to keep expectations low and cut some slack. . . . I think Miller is a great hire, but it sure was torturous getting there. RJW52

• Enthusiasm is justified! The program was in total disarray after USC’s Tim Floyd rejected Jim Livengood’s offer. Now we have a skilled coach, two top 100 recruits we never thought we could get and the possibility of at least one more good recruit. BMW308428

The Arizona Republic

Members of the U.S. Senate will be in Phoenix next week to hear how border violence is affecting the region.

On April 20, the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will hear testimony from Gov. Jan Brewer, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon and officials from Arizona communities near the Mexico border.

Drug violence has surged in Mexico. More than 6,000 people died in drug-related violence in Mexico in 2008, more than double the number from the previous year. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, a former Arizona governor, plans to send more than 100 federal agents to the border to help combat the wave of violence.

Some officials also say that rampant drug-related kidnappings in Phoenix are tied to the escalating brutality in Mexico.

The Phoenix field hearing is the latest in a string of similar border hearings held by Congress in recent weeks.

Next week’s meeting is special because senators can talk to people with firsthand knowledge in a state that’s affected the most, said Mark Buse, Sen. John McCain’s chief of staff. McCain sits on the committee and will attend the hearing with the committee’s chairman, Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman.

McCain “thought it was very important to hold a hearing near the border, out in Arizona, where we can hear from . . . everyone who has been affected, everyone who has thoughts on the matter,” Buse said.

Some witnesses for the hearing, including Gordon and state Attorney General Terry Goddard, have already testified before Congress. Buse said their insights were still helpful.

The others on the list are Nogales Mayor Octavio Garcia Von Borstel, Tohono O’odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris, Jr., Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik and Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever.

After opening statements from senators on the panel, witnesses will testify and committee members will ask questions. Like most Senate hearings, the public can’t comment or ask questions.

The public can submit testimony to McCain’s office, which could be added to the committee’s record later, Buse said.

It’s unclear what action the senators plan to take after the hearing. The panel is gathering information, so McCain doesn’t have specific proposals yet, Buse said. “Obviously everything is on the table right now,” the chief of staff said. “The senator believes that this issue is not going to go away.”

The Arizona Republic and Tucson Citizen

Russ Pennell, coming off a Sweet 16 appearance in his only year at Arizona, will become the new men’s basketball coach at Grand Canyon University.

Grand Canyon informed current coach Dan Nichols on Wednesday about the decision to bring in Pennell.

Pennell declined comment to the Tucson Citizen. A news conference is set for 2:30 p.m. Thursday at Grand Canyon.

The 47-year-old Pennell, who took over for Lute Olson before the start of last season on an interim basis, has agreed in principle to a long-term deal.

Pennell will take over a Division II program that went 13-14 in Nichols’ only season. Pennell guided UA to a 21-14 record and kept alive the Wildcats’ streak of 25 NCAA Tournament bids.

Grand Canyon is petitioning to become Division I in basketball.

The school also plans to build a 6,000-seat basketball arena. The school likely would move up from Division II after next season, but it would have to go through a four-year probation period before becoming eligible for the NCAA Tournament.

Pennell formerly was an assistant coach under Rob Evans at Arizona State and ran the Premier Basketball Academy in Gilbert for elementary and high school players.

During the Final Four, which Pennell attended in Detroit, he told the Tucson Citizen that he had a few options.

He will become the second former UA head coach to guide Grand Canyon.

Ben Lindsey coached the Antelopes from 1965-81, taking them to a NAIA national title before being named the UA coach for the 1982-83 season. He went 4-24, 1-17 in Pac-10 play, and was fired after one season. UA then hired Olson.

Nichols came to Grand Canyon after spending seven seasons as head coach at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix.

GRAND CANYON COACHES

Year(s) Coach Record

1949-51 Howard Mansfield 2-19

1951-60 Dave Brazell 112-85

1960-61 Don Reed 12-10

1961-65 Dave Brazell 39-49

1965-81 Ben Lindsey 317-137

1981-83 Jay Arnote 40-19

1983-86 John Shumate 58-33

1986-88 Paul Westphal 63-18

1988-90 Bill Westphal 51-15

1990-04 Leighton McCrary 217-177

2004-08 Scott Mossman 65-47

2008-09 Dan Nichols 13-14

2009- Russ Pennell -