OPEN DIVISION
Open Division brings balance, controversy to postseason
If not for the Open Division and Scottsdale Chaparral getting in on a touchdown as time expired Friday, Mesa Mountain View coach Mike Fell would have left Dave & Buster’s in Tempe on Saturday morning without a plastic-wrapped playoff game ball.
Fell came to the Arizona Interscholastic Association’s bracket show at its new big sponsor headquarters, hoping to get a football when he arrived. He had to nervously wait it out. Once the 6A brackets appeared on the big screen, he was relieved to see his Toros among the 16 playoff teams at No. 15. They will open against No. 2 Phoenix Brophy Prep on Friday night at Phoenix College.
Had Chaparral not beaten Peoria Liberty
36-35 on a Jack Miller pass as time expired, Chaparral would have been in the 6A bracket and not bumped up to the eight-team Open, and Mountain View probably would have been knocked out.
If not, it would have fueled No. 16 Tempe Corona del Sol’s case to be in. Corona del Sol did make it in with the final spot with a losing record (4-6). But the Aztecs could have looked at their come-from-behind victory over Mountain View as evidence.
Both schools are going to the playoffs, thanks to the new Open Division state playoffs which took four 6A teams — No. 1 Chandler, No. 5 Phoenix Pinnacle, No. 7 Chandler Hamilton and No. 8 Chaparral.
“I think getting in at 15 is great,” Fell said. “When I saw Chaparral was going
the first team in GCU history to reach the NCAA Tournament.
“I think we just have to start trusting each other a little more on moving the ball and sharing the ball and not breaking off plays so early,” Majerle said after his team’s 87-60 exhibition victory over Division II CSU San Bernardino on Wednesday. “Swing it from side to side and then attack it and find the open guy.
“Sometimes we’re a little selfish in that area. But we’ve got a lot of new guys and we’re putting in a lot of new things. It’s going to take us a while to get it rolling.”
Majerle also is waiting on the NCAA to determine whether TCU transfer junior guard Jaylen Fisher can play. Fisher missed most of the last season with an injury. If he is cleared, he will make an immediate impact.
There is no shortage of talent. Alessandro Lever, a 6-10 junior, who made All-Western Athletic Conference as a freshman and averaged 12.5 points during a mini-slump sophomore season, came back from Italy this summer in his best shape, losing 20 pounds.
He showed more spin moves around the basket in the exhibition, scoring 11 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, four on the offensive end.
“He’s just got to figure out a way when to use his strength and his quickness,” Majerle said. “He lost a little confidence in his outside shot. He’s not looking for it as much. We’ll figure that out. But I’m really proud of how he worked this summer. He got himself into great shape.”
Leading the newcomers is guard Isiah Brown, who had 26 points in the exhibition, after only practicing with the Antelopes last year, because of the NCAA transfer rules. He had come over from Northwestern.
He was teamed up in the backcourt with 5-10 true freshman Jovan Blacksher Jr., who made All-Arizona each of the last two years at Phoenix Shadow Mountain. Blacksher had 12 points in the exhibition, feeding off the energy form the loud student body called the Havocs.
“He’s a stud,” Brown said of Blacksher. “He’s going to continue to get better. He’s got a load of talent, extremely quick . ... He’s going to run the show at times. He’s going to play with confidence.”
Senior guard Carlos Johnson, who started the season on the bench last year before becoming a starter and carrying the Antelopes in the WAC Tournament, before running on fumes in the championship loss to New Mexico State, ended up leading GCU in scoring last year at 14.3 points a game.
“We’re not as tall as last year, but we’re a little more quicker,” Johnson said. “We’ll get out there.”
Dan Majerle (123-72 in 6 seasons at GCU)
(20-14 overall, 10-6
Alessandro Lever, 6-10, 225, Jr.; Carlos Johnson, 6-4, 220, Sr.; Oscar Frayer, 6-7, 195, Sr. None.
Isiah Brown, 6-2, 180, Jr.; Mikey Dixon, 6-2, 165, Jr.; Jovan Blacksher Jr., 5-11, 155, Fr.; Jaylen Fisher, 6-2, 195, Jr.
This is the smallest of coach Dan Majerle's seven teams at GCU, but it his deepest at the guard position and championship usually are dictated by guard play. If Fisher, a transfer from TCU, is cleared by the NCAA, he's a guy capable of putting this team on his back. In the meantime, Brown, who sat out last year after transferring from Northwestern, is a capable scorer. Lever, who dropped about 20 pounds, has committed himself to the post and won't rely on launching 3-pointers. Frayer's NCAA status is iffy and he'll be needed on defense and on the boards for the Antelopes to make a serious run at New Mexico State and reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
vs. Davenport Nov. 5, 7 p.m. 4, 8 p.m. at CSU Bakersfield, Jan. 0 – J.J. Rhymes (Jr., G, 6-4, 200, Shadow Mountain)
1 – Isiah Brown (Jr., G, 6-2, 180, Northwestern)
3 – Mikey Dixon (Jr., G, 6-2, 165, St. John's)
4 – Oscar Frayer (Sr., F, 6-7, 195, Moreau Catholic)
5 – Louis Bangai (Jr., C, 6-10, 230, UNLV)
10 – Jovan Blacksher Jr. (Fr., G, 5-11, 155, Shadow Mountain)
11 – Jaylen Fisher (Jr., G, 6-2, 195, TCU)
13 – Lorenzo Jenkins (Sr., F, 6-7, 215, Colorado State)
15 – Raef Gerdes (So., F, 6-7, 180, Summit (Mo.) Christian)
23 – Carlos Johnson (Sr., G, 6-4, 220, Washington)
24 – Bryce Okpoh (Fr., F, 6-7, 190, The Colony (Texas))
25 – Alessandro Lever (Jr., C, 6-10, 225, Bolzano, Italy)
30 – Gabe McGlothan (So., F, 6-8, 220, Basha/Southeast Missouri State)
31 – Ethan Spry (Fr., F, 6-6, 200, Scottsdale Christian)
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