VarsityXtra

Higley high school was selected as a finalist for the 2009-2010 Tony Komadina Outstanding Girls’ Athletic Program Award.

The award recognizes schools that have demonstrated an advocacy and progress toward girls’ athletics, and is viewed as the highest award that can be given for a girls’ program.

Higley will host a visit from the AIA Girls Equity in Sports Standing Committee in February.

The selection committee will make its recommendation for the 4A-5A award winners to the AIA Executive Board at its March 15 meeting.

The winners will be honored at an awards presentation tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, April 28 at Westgate City Center in Glendale.

Marcos de Niza’s Ramon Abreu, a two-way and special teams standout this past season for the 5A-II state runner-up Padres, was honored last week with the Ed Doherty Award, accorded the top high school senior football player in the state. Abreu beat out four other finalists - Hamilton’s Tevin Hood, Chaparral’s Dwayne Garrett, Mountain Pointe’s Davon Jones and Goodyear Millennium’s Marquis Flowers. Abreu signed a letter of intent with ASU last week. Abreu was named the Tribune’s Player of the Year in 2009 in December.

Gilbert Christian’s boys and girls basketball teams and Salt River’s girls basketball team have qualified for their respective 1A state basketball tournaments that begin Friday in Prescott and Prescott Valley.
Gilbert Christian’s boys bring an unbeaten record (28-0) to their first-round game Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Rock Point. Gilbert Christian’s girls (10-16), last year’s state champions, play just before the boys in a 6 p.m. contest against Rock Point. Both games are at Prescott High School.
Salt River’s girls (28-4), one of the tournament favorites along with Gila Bend, open play Friday at noon against Grand Canyon at Prescott Valley Bradshaw Mountain High School.
Quarterfinal games in the tournament are set for Saturday at Prescott High or Bradshaw Mountain High with times to be determined. The semifinals are set for Feb. 19 and the finals Feb. 20 at Tim’s Toyota Center in Prescott.

In addition to our list here, a few more soccer players signed letters of intent this week to play college:

Samantha Rall (Desert Vista):  Eastern Illinois
Karisa Price (Highland): Metro State
Megan Striedel (Red Mountain): Ft. Lewis College
Taylor Tegtmeyer (Chandler): Ft. Lewis College
Madyson Wellcome (Hamilton): Ft. Lewis College
Emma Cannis (Gilbert): Ft. Lewis College
Jaci Teresinski (Hamilton): SE Louisiana State
Julie Vandeberg (Corona del Sol): Wyoming
Kaelin Williams (Mesquite): Chandler-Gilbert CC
Blair Alderson (Gilbert): Arizona State

Christian Bower and Isaiah Strong spend a lot of time together.

They both go to Mesquite, both play on the basketball team and, ever since their sophomore seasons, have lived together, too.

Strong, a senior shooting guard who averages a team-high 21.8 points per game, lived with his mom and went to Chandler High as a freshman. Bower, the leading assists man in 5A at 8.1 per game, went to Mesquite.

The pair met in junior high, and remained close despite attending different schools. During his freshman year, Strong’s mother moved to Phoenix, but he wanted to stay in the East Valley.

So what began as a temporary sleepover situation eventually became permanent.

“I just asked him to spend the night, like a regular friend thing,” Bower said. “One night turned into a week and it just led on from there. Once they (Christian’s parents, Tamarom and Chuck Bower) realized he was only going home about once a month, they talked to him about it, and they had no problem taking him in.”

The Bowers are now Strong’s legal guardians. The two friends share a room, and when they’re not playing basketball, like to spend their free time at the mall.

If it works out, they would like to play college basketball together, although no plans have been made.

But they still have the rest of this season to worry about. Mesquite is one of a handful of legitimate contenders for the 5A-I crown, with Bower and Strong at the forefront.

“Those guys are two good leaders,” Mesquite coach Tom Saltzstein said. “I count my blessings every day.”

With his 65-point explosion on Tuesday against Chino Valley, Goodyear Estrella Foothills shooting guard Corey Hawkins has upped his scoring average to 36.7 points per game this season.

That total is good for second nationally among players with 15 or more games listed on Maxpreps.com.

While not every high school lists their statistics on Maxpreps, it is becoming increasingly popular, and the vast majority of Arizona teams use it.

It’s impossible to figure out exactly where Hawkins stands nationally, but it’s clear he is in the top echelon of scorers in the country.

Hawkins is 178 points away from breaking Mike Bibby’s state record for points in a season. If Estrella Foothills makes the state title game - a pretty good bet considering it hasn’t lost to a 3A team this year - Hawkins would need to average 29.5 points in the final six contests to tie the record.

While I still have reservations as to how his game will translate to the college level,  there’s no denying Hawkins is on an incredible run. Arizona State fans are undoubtedly excited to see this player in maroon and gold next year.

After a loss to Apache Junction on Jan. 13, the Maricopa boys basketball team was 3-8 in power point games and, seemingly, totally out of the playoff picture.

But now, after an impressive seven-game stretch, the Rams have vaulted to No. 13 in the most recent power points, and a win tonight against Tempe would make them 9-9 in power point contests and clinch a postseason spot.

Maricopa started the run with wins against Apache Junction, Higley and Coronado, but really opened some eyes early last week. First, the Rams beat Williams Field, which was ranked No. 2 in 4A-II at the time. That was followed by a one-point win over Notre Dame and, on Tuesday, a win over Seton, a team expected to compete for the 4A-II title.

Maricopa is led by 6-foot-5 senior Terrance Motley, who averages 18.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. If Maricopa qualifies for the postseason, it will be one of the more dangerous low seeds in the tournament.

It’s nice to see many of the local football players get together to sign their letters of intent.

This was the third annual event at Majerle’s Sports Grill in Chandler, and there was a very good turnout.

Former Cardinals pro bowler Bertrand Berry spoke to kick things off, and then the players were free to mingle, sign their letters and pose for pictures.

I couldn’t talk to every player, but here is some insight into what the future holds for a few of them:

- Notre Dame center Blair Tushaus missed his senior season with an ACL tear, but he said the recovery is ahead of schedule and he should be ready for all football activites at Brigham Young  in the fall. There are a couple players in front of him on the depth chart so Tushaus will probably redshirt. Tushaus said it was tough missing his senior year, but he still finished his career with a pair of state titles in football and another in track. “Most people don’t even get one,” he said.

- It’s going to be a big change for Paradise Valley quarterback Kevin Spain, who signed with Hawaii. The Trojans were very run-oriented this year behind standout tailbacks Tyree Parker and Jake Brown. Hawaii is pass-happy, which excites Spain. “I never got to throw the ball very much in high school. It’s a nice change.” Spain said he’s never met former Hawaii signal caller Colt Brennan, but would like to. “He’s the poster child of the program. I would definitely like to meet him and talk to him about Hawaii.”

- Desert Mountain’s Tyeler Davison and Chaparral’s Andrew Gustafson have both committed to Fresno State. Former Saguaro defensive back Erik Brown is also there. Gustafson said he and Davison have become friends after committing to the same school. “It’s kind of cool to know you’re going to college with someone, because not a whole lot of kids from Arizona are going to Fresno State. It’s cool to know you’ll at least know one person.”

- Chandler running back Taylor Walstad was Arizona State’s first verbal commitment of the 2010 class, and if not for a technological snafu, he would have been the first letter of intent faxed over, one minute after it was allowed. Needless to say, Walstad is excited to be a Sun Devil. “I love ASU,” he said. “I always said, if ASU ever does offer me, I’ll commit right away. Other players thought I was crazy, like, ‘Dude, you can get so many more (offers).’ To me, it’s not about how much I get. It’s about the one I want. Fortunately, ASU was the first one I got. It was a dream come true.”

- Hamilton defensive tackle Tevin Hood was wearing a Duke sweatshirt at Majerle’s  and it seems pretty certain that’s where he will end up, but he did not sign a letter of intent on Wednesday. The plan would be to walk on in the fall but have an academic scholarship, before earning an athletic scholarship in the spring. Hood said he and the coaching staff have been talking for the past few weeks, but he wants to make sure it’s the right fit. “I’ll talk to them next week and see what happens.” Hood said that if he goes to Duke, the coaching staff wants him to play right away.

- Hamilton safety Devon Carrington is one of the highest rated local prospects. He committed to Stanford before the season started, and had an anxious couple weeks last month as rumors swirled that coach John Harbaugh would be leaving. “I would talk to him a little bit, and he kept telling me he wasn’t going anywhere,” he said.  Carrington said playing as a true freshman is something he would really like to do. Some recruiting analysts see him as a linebacker down the road, but Carrington’s first choice would be to remain at safety. Carrington said even if Harbaugh left he would have stayed committed to Stanford because of the school’s academics.

- Chaparral running back Dwayne Garrett used to go watch his friend’s older brother play football at San Diego State, so when the school offered him a scholarship, it was a natural fit. He said an offer from Arizona or Arizona State would have been ideal, but he’s happy with his choice. Coaches from other schools were looking at Garrett on defense, but he preferred to stay at running back, which he will do at San Diego State.

One other thing I wanted to add was the importance of Facebook to these kids. Now the task of moving out of the state to play football doesn’t seem as daunting, because many of the players get to know fellow recruits on Facebook. Several of them said they talk to their future teammates quite a bit on there and it makes it easier knowing they’ll see some familiar faces when they get to school. I’m not sure how much this will affect recruiting going forward, but it does prove that the recruiting game is always changing.

The No. 9-seed Arcadia boys soccer team was supposed to turn in uniforms on Wednesday, but now the Titans will keep them at least a few more days.

The Titans fell to Mohave, 4-2, in Tuesday night’s state tournament opening round, but on Wednesday, Mohave self-reported a violation to the AIA and forfeited the match.

It means Arcadia will play No. 1 Phoenix Cortez on Friday night at Red Mountain Park.

David Hines, the AIA soccer tournament director, said a player transferred to Mohave but didn’t officially change their domicile, and an unrelated question led Mohave to check on the student’s residency, which is how the school found the violation.

Mohave will eventually meet with the AIA executive board and present their findings, but Hines said the AIA is now allowed to go back and change the course of a season or its results once a state tournament has begun.

Still, it’s a pretty admirable and gutsy move on the part of Mohave, which probably could have played out the tournament without saying a word publicly about what the school discovered, and who would have known?

The day after his team lost in the 5A-II state championship game in football, Marcos de Niza’s Ramon Abreu was on the basketball court for his first practice.

Once basketball season comes to a close, he will move to the baseball diamond.

In an era of specialization, Abreu is one of the few remaining three-sport high school athletes.

And even though the stakes are high (one tenth of a second difference in a forty-yard dash can mean the difference in scholarship offers), Abreu never really considered dropping the rest and focusing on football.

“(Playing multiple sports) is something I’ve always done and something I’m not going to be able to do ever again,” Abreu said. “I feel a devotion to my teammates as well. I didn’t want to take a year off and (affect) them.”

It hasn’t hurt him, as Abreu signed with Arizona State for football on Wednesday. He believes that once he begins focusing solely on football, it could raise his level of play.

And during the offseason, he might have to pick up a hobby.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do, honestly,” Abreu said. “It’s just going to be football. That’s going to be a big, big change for me.”

Photo: Darryl Webb, East Valley Tribune