Aprende’s eighth-grade boys basketball team made it all the way to the state junior high championship finals Feb. 19-24 before losing to Gilbert Mesquite Junior High School on the last day of the competition.
Aprende earned the invitation by winning the Kyrene Championship on Jan. 31, beating Akimel Middle School, 33-28, at Centennial Middle School.
“Trevor Davies hit a 3-point basket with two minutes left to seal the win for us,” said coach Scott Grimditch. Cassius Peat contributed 16 points, while key defensive efforts were turned in by Isaiah Drake and Elijah Hassell.”
The state junior high championship tournament, played at Isaac Middle School in Phoenix for the 30th straight year, was a five-game series. Aprende defeated Ray Junior High from Kearney, 51-36, in the first round, beat Tuba City, 48-32, in the second round and then defeated Sun Valley, 53-41, in the third game.
“In the Sun Valley game, Juan Gandara hit two key field goals and played quality defense to key the win,” said Grimditch.
Aprende’s fourth game was against Sonoran Trails Middle School from Cave Creek, where the Jaguars played their best game of the tournament, according to Grimditch.
“We were leading by 20 points midway through the fourth quarter,” said Grimditch. “Jimmie Dixon displayed some good ball handling and hit some key shots to help seal the win.”
Jaguar players who represented Aprende in the championship finals included Isiah Alvarez, Ryan Christensen, Eric Schwalbe, Tanner Millard, Amarii Anderson and Daniel Sarratt, in addition to Drake, Dixon, Gandara, Davies, Hassell and Peat.
The championship match, unfortunately, did not go as planned for the Jaguars, playing their fifth game in six days. Their run for the winning trophy ended in a 42-20 lose to Gilbert Mesquite.
“We appeared tired in the final game,” said Grimditch. “I don’t know what happened; we couldn’t do anything right. The highlight was Cassius Peat, who scored all 20 points and was named co-MVP of the tournament.”
Peat, who just turned 14, is a 6 foot 3 inch guard, weighing in at 195 pounds. He is also the younger brother of Todd and Andrus Peat and son of former NFL professional football player Todd Peat Sr.
Cassius, who averaged over 20 points a game in the state tournament, was named co-MVP, even though that honor normally goes solely to the winning team’s best player.
In the post-game ceremonies, tournament director JC Helton was comparing Cassius’ ball- handling, rebounding and shooting skills with some of the other great players to come out of Arizona, according to Grimditch.
“I was honored to be named co-MVP,” said Cassius. “It was even more of an honor when the tournament director mentioned me in the same sentence as the likes of some other Arizona players he’d seen play over the years, such as Mike Bibby, Richard Jefferson and Daniel Bejarano.”
Cassius had a remarkable basketball season at Aprende, racking up over 18 points and almost 13 rebounds a game, according to Grimditch.
“I coached for 12 years, seven as a varsity coach, in San Jose, Calif.,” said Grimditch. “Cassius is an incredible athlete and the most skilled eighth-grader I have ever seen. “Having said that, he respects his teammates, and his family support is great, which will keep him grounded in the future.”
Cassius will be attending Corona next year, where he plans on playing basketball and maybe football. Unlike his two older brothers, who play on the offensive and defensive line, Cassius has thought mostly about playing quarterback.
