Any time Sedona Red Rock High School girls basketball misses a layup at practice, head coach Kirk Westervelt makes the team do a push-up. It’s a standard punishment in the high school hoops world, but Westervelt adds a twist. As the players rise up toward the apex of their push-up, they have to say a single word in unison — “Pima.”
Those four letters mean everything to the Scorpions. Of course, it was the Pima Roughriders that ended Sedona’s pursuit of perfection nearly a year ago on a buzzer-beating three in the state title game. 333 days later, as the Scorpions fine-tuned their craft at a team practice 48 hours before opening the 2021-2022 Arizona Interscholastic 2A State Championships, they made it clear that Pima remains fuel that burns their fire.
“The day after we lost that game [to Pima] me and my dad went to the gym,” said senior guard Nyah Valdez. “So I’ve been thinking about it for a year and I’m ready, and think everybody’s ready. We want to play them again.”
Valdez isn’t alone in that desire. While Sedona needs to win three games before a potential finals appearance, the Scorpions don’t hide the fact that they’ll be biased as they watch the other games in the now 16-team bracket.
“That’s definitely a core memory because it did leave an impact on our team,” said senior wing Stephanie Medel. “But that definitely is used as motivation and it makes us stronger and we definitely want to go back and play them again because we want to show them what we got.”
No. 2 Sedona is openly rooting for No. 1 Pima, not because they think it’s an easy title-game match up, but because they want another crack at the Roughriders.
“The idea that Pima is No. 1 right ahead of us again like last year, the idea that we could face them again, that’s in the back of our head at all times,” said junior guard Annabelle Cook. ”We talk about it all the time … We want to beat them. We want to be the best. We want to show we’re the best, because we should have been the best last year.”
The Scorpions acknowledge that looking two weeks and three games ahead can lead to trouble, however. To play Pima again, not only do the Roughriders need to win three games first, the Scorpions do too. It begins Friday night at 7:30 p.m., when they’ll play No. 17 Round Valley at Prescott High School in Round 1 of the State Championships.
“If you overlook a team then you could be out,” Valdez said. “It’s the playoffs, so if you don’t play your hardest every game then you’re going home and I know that none of us want to go home. It’s our last chance.”
Teams as well-oiled and dominant as Sedona can often fall into that trap. That’s why Westervelt makes sure the girls stay focused on just the next opponent. It’s a mentality that has worked for them so far, says senior wing Hannah Lanchbury.
“If we started this season looking to the State Championship, we wouldn’t have won as many games. 100 percent,” she said. “It reflects what you do in the game too. If you’re looking down the court already you’re not going to see the passes.”
Round Valley presents a greater challenge than the No. 17 by their name could leave some to believe. The Elks finished fourth in the brutal 2A North region, a region that earned four spots in the tournament. The Elks defeated their regional rival, No. 16 Ganado, in the Conference Play-In round for the right to face the Scorpions.
“[Round Valley] has a 6-foot-1 post that’s legit and they’re a scrappy team,” Westervelt said. “They’re in a tough [region] … I don’t fear them but I know they’re legit and they can beat us if we’re not on … We’re just looking one at a time. Round Valley and that’s the only team we’ve scouted so far.”
Westervelt’s “fear none” mentality has rubbed off on his team. The Scorpions invite the challenge of state, rather than put their opponents on a pedestal. That’s how they got to this point — 17-0 in the regular season and No. 2 in 2A. The undefeated season is nice, the players say, but they’re more excited for closer games than celebrating wins against lower-level teams.
“It’s a great accomplishment but I’m just looking forward to state,” said junior guard Helen Westervelt. “I’m glad we’re playing tougher teams.”
Those tougher teams are coming. Sedona knows that because they’ve been there before. Two years ago, the Scorpions lost in the first round. Last year, they fell when their journey to the top felt certain. But this time is different. They’ve matured. They know it’s tough to get to the top, and that experience is what makes the Scorpions confident.
“I think that’s our big thing, just one step at a time,” Cook said. “My freshman year we got knocked out in the first round. So that kind of humbled us. Even last year we just got a little ahead of ourselves so I think one step at a time is the key to this whole thing.”
Update: After press of this article, the Scorpions won both games over the weekend in Prescott. They’ve advanced to face St. John Paul II on Friday at 10:30 a.m. at the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix in the Semifinal of the AIA 2A State Championships.
