Lori Piestewa Tournament semis: FMD vs AZ Warriors
FMD defeated AZ Warriors 73-61 to secure a spot in the final of the Lori Piestewa Native American Tournament varsity bracket.
FMD, with many of its players competing near home in Mesa, Arizona, took a 6-0 lead to start, hardly ever trailed, and was up by ten or more the entire second half.
Here are four players that stood out in the tournament’s first semifinal game:
BJ Burries came up big time and again with clutch jumpers from three. He hit them from both corners and the top of the key as well, often right as it looked like the Warriors were set to attempt a comeback. He also had several steals early to help FMD go on a 12-0 run to take a lead the team would never squander.
Jackson Reavis also made contributions to FMD with his guard play, facilitating an offense that worked well together throughout the game. On the ball, he refused to settle for contested jumpers and seemed to plow his way to the rim at will, or make precise passes to cutting teammates. On defense, Reavis came up with a few steals and had a few nice rebounds.
Kaleb Doka, another FMD guard who can handle the ball, made his biggest impact rebounding. On a team where the bigs were much more focused on the offense, he boxed out on both ends. While Reavis did much of the handling, Doka made smart cuts to the basket, set a few good screens, and was rewarded with shots near the rim.
Joey Mathias of the Warriors never quit, even though the game was all-but-over at half, fighting for every 50/50 ball and hustling as hard as anybody on the court. Defensively, he deserves credit for or making FMD’s Tanner Poeschl work hard for everything and finish with a quiet game game, though it ultimately would not matter in the final score.