The Maricopa High School girls’ basketball team lost in the Arizona Interscholastic Association Division II Section VI Tournament semi-finals but still have a chance for a high seed in the state tournament.
Maricopa fell to Mesa High School for the second time this season, 49-39. The Jackrabbits used a 16-4 run to close out the game and move on to the section finals against Seton Catholic High School Saturday night.
“A lot of girls just had some defensive lapses that cost there in the end,” Mitchell said. “They had wide open layups, and ultimately it led to that run they went on at the very end. I think we just had to get up and play basketball and we didn’t do that tonight.”
During the Rams’ run to the 2015 State Championship, Maricopa made it to the section finals before losing to Seton Catholic. The Rams were able to rally and make an incredible run to the state title as the tournament’s 12 seed. However, this season will likely shape up differently.
The Rams entered the section tournament ranked sixth in the AIA Power Rankings. A win would have guaranteed them a spot in the top eight and earned Maricopa a bye in the first round of the state tournament.
However, the loss drops them to the eighth spot in the rankings, and now the Rams have to wait and see whether or not they drop out of contention for a bye week.
“I think with this being a power-ranking game, the loss will hurt us a bit,” Mitchell said. “Hopefully it doesn’t hurt us too bad. We’d like the opportunity to get back and play the likes of Seton and those guys for another run.”
If the Rams drop out of the top eight, they will host their first-round opponent. If they are victorious, they will travel to a top-eight seed to play the second round. If they stay in the top eight, they will host the second-round game before moving to Gila River Arena in Glendale for the remainder of their games.
Mitchell’s focus is to work on the basics to get his team prepared for another run at the state title.
“We’re really scrappy, but I think we have lapses boxing out that we need to address before we play teams like Seton,” Mitchell said. “I think we’ll try to adjust accordingly to whoever we have.”
