Xavier Prep’s outstanding basketball season came to a screeching halt on Thursday night (Feb. 24) as visiting Gilbert Perry pulled a 50-45 6A Conference semifinal upset of the Gators at the Activity Center.
Perry (22-9)
was the No. 11 seed, Xavier (19-6) No. 2. Perry now advances to the
championship game for the first time in school history and will face defending
champion Surprise Valley Vista on Wednesday (March 2).
Xavier’s
Gators had so much wanted to be in that game, at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum
in Phoenix, known as the Madhouse on McDowell. For Xavier, it will be the
Sadhouse on McDowell, because they won’t be there.
Xavier coach
Jennifer Gillom can take a bit of solace in the fact that the team will lose
just one senior to graduation, with a number of talented underclassmen
returning.
Perry, which
had lost two Premier Region games to the Gators on back-to-back nights as the
calendar flipped from January to February, played one of its best all-around
games of the season, getting a 23-point effort from junior post player Khamil
Pierre. Senior guard Kira Patel scored 14.
And the
Pumas’ defense rose to the occasion. Xavier seemed a bit dismayed because just
about every time it brought the ball across halfcourt, it seemed to be
double-teamed.
The game remained
close throughout, although Perry expanded its lead in the fourth quarter.
Xavier cut the lead to two, but could not pull ahead.
Sophomores
Sarah Miller and Dom Nesland scored 17 and 12 points, respectively, to lead the
Gators. Junior Sienna Cherwinski had 6, sophomore Maureen Ulrich and junior
Gabby Trbovic had 4 each and senior Toni Garcia had 2.
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