Isaiah Soriano was co-leader in scoring for the Rams against Payson with 22 points. Photo by Raquel Hendrickson

By Adam Wolfe and Devin Carson

After winning eight straight games, the Maricopa High School boys’ basketball team has moved into playoff position in the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division III basketball rankings. Maricopa has climbed from 38th to 22nd.

In section play, the top six teams will compete in the AIA Division III Section V tournament, and Maricopa currently holds the third place spot. With six conference games remaining, the Rams control their own destiny for the post season.

The Rams are 14-6.

“When you go on an eight-game winning streak, there’s some things that we need to get better with and some things that we need to tweak, but I don’t think we need to change anything,” head coach Jacob Neill said. “We’re playing really good basketball right now, so I don’t necessarily think we need to change things.”

MHS defeated Blue Ridge Tuesday at home, 73-69, in a barn-burner. The Rams trailed 49-47 after three quarters, but came on in the fourth to pull out the conference victory.

Senior Johnny Johnson Jr. scored 27 and had seven rebounds. Sophomore Josh Johnson scored 22 and had six rebounds. Senior Isaiah Soriano scored 11. El Jones blocked two shots.

Thursday at home, the Rams thumped Payson, 83-68, in another conference game. Maricopa took command early and flirted with a 30-point lead before Neill turned the court over to his second team in the final quarter.

“I think we did great,” Soriano said. “First half was a little slow, but we made up for it in the second half.”

Hitting four 3-pointers for a big second half, Soriano scored 22 to match Johnny Johnson. Josh Johnson scored 18 and had seven rebounds and six steals. Jones led the rebounding with eight.

“Well, the first half wasn’t great – my head wasn’t screwed on right,” Soriano said. “But when Coach gave me his usual pep talk it got me back in the game. I think the third quarter is when I really shined.”

The Rams have not lost since winter break. The team has been playing at a high level, but Maricopa will need to stay focused as they face the top-ranked Eagles of Scottsdale Christian Academy and the sixth-ranked Trojans of Valley Christian High School at the end of the season.

Soriano is looking forward to playing Scottsdale Christian on Jan. 27.

“They are the top team in our section,” he said. “It’s going to be a tight game but I think we will come out on top.”

Neill, too, has confidence in the team’s future.

“We’ve been [playing well] since the Coolidge tournament in December,” Neill said. “We’ve come together each game and (have) done what it takes to win basketball games. It’s hard to go on a streak like we’ve been on, and we’ve faced a bit of adversity, but we’ve handled that adversity and done everything we’ve needed to do to win games.”