Perry Defeats Basha In Front Of A Packed House
- Sutton Druck
- Feb 5
- 4 min read
Tonight, I attended the fiercest rivalry in Arizona high school basketball: the Perry Pumas and the Basha Bears. This was the most packed I have ever seen a high school gym, with it being standing room only and a sell out around an hour before the contest even began. The chants from both student sections were deafening and made it awfully confusing for both teams when they were on offense.
FIRST HALF
Perry started the game off with a Nono Brown (SR) triple. Mason Magee (JR) would then answer with a triple of his own. The teams would trade blows until Koa Peat (SR) stunned the Basha side of the gym with a posterizing jam. This seemed to be a tone setter for the rest of the night as Perry dominated the offensive glass and paint. Mason Magee hit two triples to quiet the Perry crowd back down and the quarter ended with a score of 21-18 in favor of Perry. D’Andre Harrison (SR) led the Pumas in scoring with 8 points and Magee led the Bears with 11. Perry would go up 27-18 behind a couple of buckets from Dominic Avalos (SR) and Bruce Branch III (SO). Basha proceeded to go on a dominating 12-0 run which saw them take their largest lead of the game over the Pumas. Kingston Montague (FR) and Lleyton Leonard (FR) were key in that run which saw the Bears taking the lead. Dominic Avalos then drove down the lane and drew contact, however, he missed the free throw. Right before the half ended, Perry seized momentum from an Avalos lob to Harrison, making the halftime score 33-32.
SECOND HALF
The Pumas came out swinging in the third behind a Koa Peat midrange bucket and a Bruce Branch triple. The Pumas obviously made halftime adjustments as their defense was downright stifling in the third quarter, containing the Bears offense to 7 points in the frame. A key development about midway through the third quarter was that the Bears’ big man, DeSean Middlebrook (JR), fouled out of the game. He was the only Bear who stood a chance against the three headed monster of Branch, Harrison, and Peat. The Bears were then outrebounded and dominated on the glass the rest of the way through. Basha would open the final quarter with two threes from Cullen Schreiner (SR) and Drew Alexander (SR) respectively. Mason Magee then spun around the Puma defender on him and laid it in, the lead was cut to 7 and head coach Sam Duane called a timeout. Magee then stole the ball and got a transition dunk to cut the lead to 5, but Bruce Branch took the ball up, pulled up, and silenced the Basha student section. The lead was back up to 8 for the Pumas. Koa Peat then had a physical drive down the lane to get the lead to double digits. Magee then weaved his way through a pack of Pumas and got his lay-up to fall. The fourth quarter was by far the most suspenseful and action packed, truly exciting, and the crowd’s energy added to the feel. It felt like a playoff game with major implications. Magee then stole the ball as the Pumas tried to bring it up, and dished it to Montague to get the lead to 6 with around 2 minutes left. Perry responded with some clutch buckets, and then Cullen Schreiner tipped in a missed three by Leonard, drew the foul, and cut the lead to 7 with a minute remaining. Harrison would then drive down the court for the Pumas, miss a shot, but get fouled on the way up. He hit both clutch free throws, giving the Pumas a 9 point cushion. Basha would then have to play the foul game the rest of the way through and would end up losing to a final score of 73-62. Bruce Branch finished the game off with an exclamation point slam, showing there is no love between these two bitter rivals.
POSTGAME
After the game, I interviewed 5 star player Koa Peat. I asked him about what gave them the determination to shut down Basha in the third quarter and the final two minutes of the game and he responded with “I think defensively we kind of lacked in the first half…we made some tough shots and all that matters is that Perry had 73 and Basha had 62”. The confidence from the senior forward was oozing all night, he ended up with 18 points on the night. D’Andre Harrison led the Pumas with 21, and Bruce Branch added 18 more.
IMPACT
The Pumas now have all but clinched the 6A Premier region title with tonight’s win, improving to 13-0 against Arizona teams. Basha drops to 13-2, still a very solid record. These two teams will both make deep runs in the open division playoffs barring any upsets. The Pumas are ranked number 1 in the state, and the Bears are ranked 5th. A potential semi final rematch is on the table if the seedings play out. Perry won a great game tonight filled with gritty buckets and intense sequences, and asserted themselves as the team to beat in the Grand Canyon State.
Well done overview of important game - just enough detail. This gave me a sense of the flow of the game since I did not see it. Really liked the Post Game and Impact info!