On Friday, Feb. 26, the seniors in the Sedona Red Rock High School basketball program were supposed to be recognized in a Senior Night ceremony between the girls and boys games against Northland Prep Academy that evening. But earlier that day, those seven seniors, as well as all of their teammates, got word that the game would not take place.
A player in the boys program tested positive for COVID-19. Because the two teams, as well as the boys junior varsity team, shared a bus to and from a trip to Valley Lutheran in Phoenix on Wednesday, Feb. 24, the players from both teams were sent into quarantine. That meant that the games against NPA on Friday, as well as the home games against Glendale Prep on Monday, March 1 — which were to be the final games of the regular season — were canceled.
The effects of those cancellations mean dramatically different things for the girls and boys teams at SRRHS.
What it means for the boys team.
Unfortunately for the SRRHS boys, the impact is devastating. This marks the end of the season. Making matters worse is that for six players on the team, it means the end of their high school basketball careers. Three starters — Jamie Alagna, Jaiah Grondin and Joey Johnson — are seniors. Reserves Matt Capozzi, Cody Brefeld and Eric Schrader are also seniors.
This also ends any hope of a postseason run. The boys team was also in contention for a spot in a play-in game. Heading into the season’s final four games, coach Pedro Ortega Sr. said that he figured a 3-1 finish would likely be enough to get into a play-in game. The Scorpions had gotten off to a good start, winning the first two of those four games in decisive fashion, routing Valley Lutheran 74-45 and 73-46 on consecutive nights.
Sedona had already beaten Northland Prep 76-59 and fell 71-44 to Glendale Prep in road games earlier in the season. The likely [based on the previous games] 1-1 finish would have gotten the Scorpions to that 3-1 mark that Ortega targeted.
Now, though, a spot in a play-in game is not in the cards.
First off, Sedona was ranked No. 26 in the AZPreps365.com poll prior to Friday’s action. Moving two spots into the Top 24 — which is needed to make a play-in game — is highly unlikely for an idle team. Additionally, the play-in games are going to be played on Friday, March 5. The quarantine period will not end until Monday, March 8. So, even if the Scorpions do move into the Top 24, they’d have to forfeit their spot in the play-in game.
What it means for the girls team.
While the effect of the cancellations is devastating for the boys team, it’s much smaller for the girls. In fact, for the girls team, there’s very little measurable impact.
The Scorpions finished their regular season with a 12-0 mark. That has them ranked No. 3 in the most recent AZPreps365.com poll, behind Pima and Arizona Lutheran — 2A’s other two undefeated teams. Coach Kirk Westervelt noted that nothing that could have happened in the final two games was likely to change that ranking, which the numbers support.
Based on the most recent poll, Sedona held a 16.5367 rating. That’s too far behind No. 2 Arizona Lutheran [18.9132] and ahead of No. 4 Round Valley [11.722] for the Scorpions to be moved off of the No. 3 seed, regardless of what would have happened in the final two games had they been played. As the No. 3 seed, the Scorpions will not have to play in a play-in game and the first round of the playoffs will not be played until after the quarantine ends.
What’s a little harder to measure is the rust vs. rest factor that seems to be debated every year regarding teams who earn bye weeks in the NFL playoffs.
Sedona will next be in action on Wednesday, March 10, with a 7 p.m. home playoff game against the third-lowest winning team from the play-in games on March 5. That will mean two weeks between games for the Scorpions, who won’t even return to official practice until two days before the game.
That certainly creates the possibility that the SRRHS team will be rusty coming into that game, which would make the Scorpions more vulnerable to be upset than they likely would normally be. On the other hand, any Sedona players dealing with nagging injuries or soreness will now have two weeks to heal. Whether the disadvantage of being rusty or the advantage of being rested wins out will not be known until that game is played.
For Lesly Suarez, the only senior on the Sedona team, the impact is more immediately measurable. Westervelt had already announced that Suarez — who normally plays off of the SRRHS bench — would start against NPA on Senior Night. That will obviously now not happen.
As far as a ceremony goes, that’s still in the cards. Westervelt said that Suarez will be honored in a ceremony prior to the March 10 playoff game. It’s possible that the seniors on the boys team will be honored there, as well.
If the Scorpion girls win that game on March 10, they’ll be home again for a quarterfinal game on Saturday, March 13. The semifinals and finals will be held at neutral sites, with the semifinals being played at either Scottsdale Christian Academy or Rancho Solano Prep on Friday, March 19, and the finals being played on Saturday, March 20, at Coronado High School.
