Rams open basketball season in Skyline tournament

Maricopa High’s boys basketball team suffered a heart-breaking loss Tuesday night when Mesa Skyline High School’s Angel Ung nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with less than five seconds remaining.

The Rams were leading 66-65 when Ung nailed his 3-pointer and the Skyline defense held on against a last-second Maricopa shot.

“We defended the shot well, but it was just a great attempt by their player,” said Rams head coach Andy Branchik. “It was a great back and forth game with many lead changes.”

Leading the way for the Rams in the loss were senior guard Jace Dickerson with 19 points, and senior forward Terrance Motley with 17 points. “Dickerson and Motley are having a great tournament,” Branchik said.

The game was the Rams second in a three-day basketball tournament in Mesa involving Buckeye Verrado, Apache Junction and Skyline high schools.

The Rams won their first game against Apache Junction 61-48 with Motley’s 26 points leading the way. If Maricopa is able to drop Verrado in today’s match up, the tournament championship will come down to point differential. “It is going to be an interesting game; Skyline beat us by two and Verrado beat Skyline by one,” Branchik said. “We are aiming for a win.”

Currently, Maricopa has a point differential of 11 points, while the other two teams in contention, Skyline and Verrado, have point differentials of 1 and 20, respectively.

“This tournament has been a great experience for our team and will help us throughout the season when we get in close games,” Branchik said.

Photo by Jim Williams