Close to a full house in Glendale came to check out the first meeting between kids from nearby neighborhoods. (Heck last year, kids on both teams from the same family). The Cobras and Skyhawks came into the night with undefeated regular season records. They left the Deer Valley gym with an extensive free throw workout.

Jan. 16: #2 (4A) Deer Valley 71, #6 (4A) Cactus 61

THE STAKES

Cactus continued to improve last season, jumping up to the #6 seed in 4A and nearly knocking out Bradshaw Mountain to reach the semifinals. Yet the Cobras were overshadowed by Deer Valley’s surprise run to the finals as the #8 seed, then their biggest rival and #2 seed Peoria took home the state title. Cactus broke through against Deer Valley with a win late in the 2022-23 regular season. Led by 20/20 man, senior center Bradey Henige, the Cobras sport a different look this year as seniors Tyler Hutton and Matt Henige play crucial roles after having to sit out last year thanks to their transfers. Assuming St. Mary’s Catholic remains in the top 8 of the Open Division, Deer Valley is hands down the 4A favorite this season. And Cactus is one of the few 4A teams that can stop them.

THE SCENE

Deer Valley was packed to the rafters, at least the ones on the home side. I’ve seen the “wrestling” side of the gym rafters filled for a 5A playoff quarterfinal in 2018 against Apollo. Still, this was a loud one and Cactus brought a larger than usual contingent. While fans on both teams groaned at some of the foul calls and the early disqualification of a star player dampened the mood a bit, this was still a competitive game until the final two minutes. The rematch at Cactus Jan. 26 should draw another spirited crowd from these schools, which are less than four miles apart.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

As freshmen last season, Sergio and Simon Gonzales mostly sat on the Skyhawks bench for these games, watching older brother Rudy Gonzales guard play for the Cobras. Rudy transferred to Cactus mostly for football reasons, after three years as a three-sport athlete at Deer Valley. Tuesday night was Sergio Gonzales’ turn in the spotlight. He led all scorers with 22 points, repeatedly breaking down the Cobras’ defense by getting to his left and hitting layups or free throws after getting hit. He closed it out with 8 fourth quarter points, putting away a game the Skyhawks led by only one entering the final 8 minutes.

PLAY OF THE NIGHT

Would you believe a foul? With 5:47 remaining in the third quarter, Gonzales drove into the paint and got a slap across the arm from Bradey Henige. That was the fifth on the Cal Baptist-bound big man. Henige is averaging 27.3 points and 19.7 rebounds per game, but only had 10 and 8 before fouling out.

“Bradey’s five fouls were all, I thought, pretty legit fouls. He smacked him on his arm pretty good on that fifth one. (Sergio’s) whole arm was red,” Deer Valley coach Jed Dunn said.

Extra credit goes to senior forward AJ Ajawin for drawing a charge on Henige in the paint with 3.7 seconds left in the first half for his fourth foul.

“With three (fouls), if that’s a defensive possession, I’m taking him out. Offensively, he gets the charge and it was a bad break. They had a good game plan for him. Any time they were git in the chest they collapsed and took the charge and they got the call,” Cactus coach Dirk Walker said.

5 THINGS I LEARNED

· Kinda ruins the conceit of the segment, but it’s hard to get much from a game like this. Cactus had 23 fouls and played basically 14 minutes without its star center. Deer Valley had at least 20 fouls too. No flow to this game. Deer Valley took advantage with its depth and pressed strategically. Ajawin and Hutton also fouled out, so that’s three of the five best players on the court (maybe three of the four best).

· The Gonzales brothers’ emergence means Deer Valley can always have guys with point guard skills on the court. This usually involves the 6-2 Vasquez covering a wing while teamed up with Teddy Johnson and a Gonzales, of both twins. Then the Skyhawks’ pressure becomes very difficult to deal with.

· Other than a 51-42 win at Arcadia on Jan. 5, this was the Skyhawks first close game against an Arizona team since November. For this team to win its first state title, it’s good that they had to dig out of a 19-9 hole. Cactus threw a matchup zone at the Skyhawks and it took them a while to figure it out. The Cobras’ length was a problem too, until Deer Valley spread them out and got to the rim – helped greatly by Henige’s absence.

· Cactus is one of the biggest teams in 4A, and just mobile enough that their size isn’t a weakness. Matt Henige is a typical sized HS guard, but his 6-0 backcourt mate Jacob Minnifield is a muscular complement. Hutton is technically a 6-5 small forward, but really functions as the Cobras point guard. Bulkier 6-5 PF Jonah Hyslip would start at center for most programs. And there really isn’t a post in the state quite like the 7-0, 240-pound Henige, a traditional post player who showed nice high post passing skills while double teamed in the first quarter.

· That said, Henige needs to be more selective in challenging guards’ shots, or at least go straight up more and use his height and intimidation to alter those shots instead of getting off his feet in space. And these days, a rare back-to-the-basket guy has to be extra aware with how frequently refs call charges. Cactus is improved around the big man this year, even without the graduated guards Terrell Doxie and Gonzales. The ballhandlers are a bit slower, but this team passes well and Hutton (19 points, 9 rebounds) is a highly skilled and versatile complementary player Bradey Henige has lacked since Rob Jenkins graduated. This Cobras team is better connected on both ends of the court.

THEY SAID IT

Jed Dunn: “I knew it would be a good game, even when Bradey fouled out I knew it would be close,” Dunn said. “Sometimes they almost become better because they obviously want to get him the ball and with him not out there they can play a little bit freer. The pace of the game was good and we did some stupid things, quick shots in the second half and then AJ trying to time up a block.”

“In years past I would have taken the twin out for the technical and sat him, even Teddy. This group needs that, to have that spiciness,” Dunn said. “You saw the twins take over in the second half, Sergio for sure took over. They know how to play. They’re tough.”

“Hutton helps them for sure. They’re so big. I thought they had tougher guards last year, especially with Rudy going over there. But now they’re in Bradey’s senior year and they’ve got another 6-6 kid that transferred in,” Dunn said. “Last year I thought they had more weapons, but this year they’re running it through two guys.”

Dirk Walker: “Our game plan was to be physical. We know they’re physical and that’s a great credit to how they play,” Walker said. “They’re very skilled and talented. We thought we could be physical and take them out of their stuff. They called it a little tighter and that’s how we ended with that. I loved our effort. We played our butts off.”

“We did a good job, for the most part, taking care of the ball. We had some moments early where we got sloppy with it, But we did a good job and got some easy looks,” Walker said.

“It’s been huge defensively with those two. We know Tyler can score. Minny didn’t shoot it well tonight. But defensively, they brought that attitude and physicality. I’ve been proud of the way they defended,” Walker said.

Sergio Gonzales: “I think we were playing too unselfish. We weren’t looking for our own, and we weren’t attacking enough. In the second quarter, we started attacking,” Sergio Gonzales said.

“That was the whole game plan. Pressure them and turn them over. Make them give us the ball,” Sergio Gonzales said.