Reflecting on the end of the official basketball season in Flagstaff, there was much to enjoy.
Of the city's four high schools with athletic programs, five combined teams made the postseason. Three won at least one game, and the Flagstaff Eagles girls highlighted the city's competition with the team's first state title in 31 years. Flagstaff didn't play a close game until they battled Pueblo in the 4A Conference final, eventually hoisting coach Tyrone Johnson's first trophy in his long tenure.
Even the Northland Prep Academy boys, who narrowly missed the 2A Conference play-in by a few spots, put together their first winning record (9-7) since the 2018-19 season.
Then there's NAU.
The Lumberjacks women put together a win streak at the end of the regular season to sneak into the No. 1 seed after returning two of their five starters from last year. They reached the Big Sky Conference Women's Basketball Championships title game earlier this week before running into a Sacramento State Hornets team that simply played better in a one-game sample. NAU played in back-to-back conference championship games, and will likely compete for more in the coming years.
The men also put together one of their best runs in recent history. After losing 10 Big Sky Conference games by five points or less, and a few buzzer-beating plays that left them on the wrong side of the SportsCenter Top 10, the Lumberjacks got a bit of revenge.
"Nobody wants to play us right now," Lumberjacks guard Liam Lloyd said following the finale of the regular season. Whether that confidence was warranted or not, the Lumberjacks at least showed outwardly that they were excited to see what they could do in the tournament.
The No. 9 Lumberjacks in the 10-team tournament men went on to dispatch Idaho before pulling off upsets over No. 1 Eastern Washington and No. 4 Montana. Notably, freshman guard Oakland Fort hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from a distance that Big Sky alumnus Damain Lillard would have been proud of to upset the Eagles and reach the semifinals.
The Lumberjacks ultimately fell to an overpowering Montana State Bobcats group that has now won back-to-back titles. But NAU showed some real guts and could be solid moving forward.
What's more? The two NAU squads got to these points behind contributions from Arizona players.
The women boasted a graduate transfer in Montana Oltrogge, a Xavier Prep graduate who averaged a near double-double for the Lumberjacks before going down with a leg injury late in the season. Saniyah Neverson, formerly of PHH Prep, played some important minutes as a freshman center and will look to improve in coming seasons.
The men had even more Arizona high school alumni leading them on their run.
There were seven players on the men's rosters who graduated from Arizona high schools. Carson Towt, Trent McLaughlin, Nik Mains and Xavier Fuller were regular starters, while Fort hit the shot of the season against the Eagles and played important backup minutes as a point guard from the start of the 2022-23 campaign. Jason Parent and Will Coates both redshirted and will likely compete for true spots on the roster next year.
The point of this is what again?
There may never be a sport that overtakes running in Flagstaff. The NAU men are defending NCAA champions, having won five of the last six national titles. If the men or women win an NCAA basketball title for the Lumberjacks, I guarantee there will be more than just myself, Dave Zorn and a few NAU students and staff in the press conferences.
Flagstaff and Coconino have won girls state cross country championships in the last two seasons, and the Flagstaff boys took second this year after placing first in 2021. Even the Coconino Community College girls team boasted the JUCO national champion in 2022. Even the NPA Spartans and Basis Flagstaff Yeti had solid placings at the state level in the past few years.
There are numerous olympians and former NCAA champions that train in Flagstaff year-round to improve their running abilities.
Again, don't get it twisted. Running is king, queen and more in this town.
But basketball is growing. The increased participation at the club level and in high schools has left the local schools with real talent.
The influx of Native Americans -- if you remember, the president of the Navajo Nation attended several Flagstaff girls basketball games in the 2022 conference runner-up season -- brings with it a basketball culture. See the NABI competition each year in Phoenix if you're not familiar.
Each of the local high school teams have stable coaching staffs that the schools' administration staffs and players are comfortable with.
Flagstaff is a basketball city.
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