The northernmost and newest schools in the Deer Valley district squared off for the second time in 10 days at O’Connor. For much of the first half the signs were there that this could blossom into a regular season classic with a memorable ending. An injury slightly before halftime to O’Connor big man Michael Simcoe dashed those hopes and turned the spotlight on 6-8 Boulder Creek big Andrew Bhesania, who showed his guard skills as well in a tour de force performance.

Jan. 26: #4 (6A) Boulder Creek 78, #7 O’Connor 68

THE STAKES

A pair of top 10 schools in 6A and top 15 schools in the state Open Division rankings got together for a semi-rivalry game. Mountain Ridge is O’Connor’s main rival in almost every sport but as the Eagles emerged into a quality program in the last two seasons, Boulder Creek became one of the measuring sticks. But it’s also just another game in the absurdly stacked Desert Valley Region. Boulder Creek upset #2 Sunnyslope at its home court Tuesday to take a half-game lead. That same night O’Connor lost to emerging #14 Liberty. And both take on #12 Pinnacle this coming week.

THE SCENE

The gym was fairly full and the crowd was solid, with the student sections going back and forth with chants. But the energy level in the building definitely was higher in the first half and dropped a few notches when Simcoe went down in the final minutes of the first half with the Eagles holding a 31-24 lead. It’s a bit hard to tell what he injured. To me it looked like a hard landing on his hip, and when he came back to the bench there was no ice on his ankles or knees. As Boulder Creek pulled away in the second half, resignation hit in on the O’Connor side.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Andrew Bhesania started and ended his career best game with dunks. He had 12 points when Simcoe went down. It was quickly clear that O’Connor’s 6-8 junior forward on the Division I recruiting radar was the only Eagles player who could hope to deal with Boulder Creek’s 6-8 junior forward on the Division I recruiting radar.

“Once I saw him go down, it definitely made it a lot easier for me to score inside,” Bhesania said.

Boulder Creek still trailed 36-32 at the half. Bheshania dropped 12 in the third quarter and 14 more in the fourth, finishing with a two-handed dunk in the final 45 seconds and then cramping up a bit. He finished 16-19 from the field and 7-10 from the line.

PLAY OF THE NIGHT

It’s hard to pick out a single play of Bhesania’s big night, but I’ll go with his second old fashioned three-point play in the third quarter. That one gave the Jaguars a 48-46 lead midway through the third quarter. Boulder Creek would never lose that lead.

5 THINGS I LEARNED

· The core three players for Boulder Creek could not be much more in tune with each other. Behsania, senior point guard Rowan McKenxie and senior shooting guard Landon Brewer are connected on both ends of the court and big for their positions yet nimble enough to guard smaller men. Sophomore forward Matt Delgado transferred in from Notre Dame Prep and the 6-5 newcomer is averaging 10.2 points and 5 rebounds in his first six games since becoming eligible. McKenzie is still getting back to full strength from an early season injury and acted as a facilitator, letting the other three score all the points until midway through the third quarter. Then McKenzie hit a three, and ended up as the Jaguars’ second leading scorer with 12, making 4-6 free throws late.

· Boulder Creek’s young bench is chipping in with defense and hustle. Sophomore guard Jeehzus Pagan had four points including a fourth quarter offensive rebound and putback, as well as a steal. Freshman guard Mick Riordan added a rebound and an assist.

· O’Connor coach Josh Cole postgame said the severity or exact nature of Simcoe’s injury was not known yet. No rest in this region. The Eagles have a road trip to Pinnacle tonight and a home game against surging Liberty Friday. A Feb. 5 trip to Sunnyslope ends the regular season. Let’s hope Simcoe is ok for the playoffs because O’Connor is a legitimate 6A title contender with them.

· Younger scoring guards Tay’Vion Wilson and Colton Watson had their moments Friday, particularly Wilson. The Kellis transfer finished with a team high 27 points and played particularly well and in the flow when Simcoe was in. Simcoe had 8 points and three rebounds, by the way. When he was out, Wilson had to work harder to create his own shot. Watson is a promising sophomore who finished with 9 but not quite ready to carry the load in a big game yet.

· O’Connor is deeper with experienced guards like seniors Jason Cullum and Blake Colvin, juniors Landon Wilson and Josh Baber and senior forward Gary Zerbach. But Michael Simcoe’s injury exposed the lack of rim protection with the rest of the roster. The only other option along those lines is junior twin brother John Simcoe and he’s not quite as good as it.

THEY SAID IT

Andrew Bhesania: “After I see the first few shots going in, it makes it a lot easier. My team put me in good positions to take advantage of the mismatches,” Bhesania said.

“We definitely are starting to come together. We beat Sunnyslope a couple days ago. We’re starting to get hot for the playoffs and hopefully we can make a run,” Bhesania said.

On his final two-handed dunk: “It felt good but it was scary when I landed. I felt that cramp up on me,” he said.

Boulder Creek coach Justin Collard: "We will pray for Simcoe. He's a super good kid and a really good player," Collard said. "We hope he's ok. And Watson's been hurt so we hope he's getting better. They're really good kids and a great coach. Our conference is full of great kids."

"It really is a credit to Andrew. O'Connor was disruptive with traps and trying to get us out of our flow. And they did a really good job. The first quarter, they were clearly better than us," Collard said. "When Rowan gets back to moving his best, and he's moving better, we should be pretty good. He's as unselfish as you can get for a point guard and he doesn't take a lot of bad ones. We have players that are really smart. (Andrew) got 42 and I don't think they care, which is not normal for a HS team."

O’Connor coach Josh Cole: “We actually played them a couple weeks ago and Mike was sick, so Mike didn’t get to play that game. It’s unfortunate but it’s next man up. At this time, no one is 100% healthy so you’ve got to fight through some stuff,” Cole said.

“Our young guys have come a long way. We’ve got some guys we’re relying on that were in a different role last year, or on the JV or freshman team,” Cole said. “I hope they just learn that everything matters. Every single play matters. Every single possession matters, every pass, every rebound, all of it matters.”

“They’re extremely well coached. They share the ball and they’re unselfish. They’re sound defensively. Justin’s one of the best coaches in the state,” Cole said.