The 2022-23 boys basketball team looked to continue its defense of the Trojan state title as they took to the court on February 24^th at Arizona Veteran's Memorial Coliseum against the Yuma Catholic Shamrocks. The Shamrocks came into the game as the 4^th ranked team in the state tournament, having compiled an 18-0 record during AIA regular season play, along with two additional wins in the first two rounds of the state tournament.  The #1 ranked Trojans were looking to continue its tournament domination, after a 63-43 win over the 9^th ranked Gilbert Christian Knights at the Findlay Toyota Center on February 21^st.
 
The Trojans and Shamrocks played a tightly contested match during the first two quarters of the game. Yuma Catholic jumped out to a 9 – 4 lead early on, eventually hanging on to a 13-12 lead over the Trojans one quarter in. The VC team began to impose its will during the 2^nd quarter, leading 19-13 at one point early on, only to let the Shamrocks to close the gap, with the Trojans holding a 33-29 lead going into halftime.
 
The 3rd quarter saw both teams continue an intense battle, with the Shamrocks rallying to only 2 points down with 2:11 left in the quarter. But in the final two minutes, the Trojans stepped up and extended their lead to 7, going into the final quarter up 54-47.
 
Yuma Catholic made a run during the first half of the quarter, when an Austin Wallace layup with 4:22 left in the half helping the Valley boys cling to a 59-58 lead. It was at this moment in the game the Trojans hit some big shots, stepped up their defensive effort and extended the lead to 66-58 with just under 2 minutes left in the game. Valley Christian continued its lock-down defense, closing the game with a 71-62 win, outscoring the Shamrocks 12 to 4 in the 2^nd half of the quarter.
 
The Trojans saw 4 of its starters scoring in double digits (Luke Shaw led the team with 24; Wallace had 14; Kyle Grier had 12; and Jake Harrison scored 11). Shaw led the team with 9 rebounds and Wallace accounted for an additional 7 rebounds.

Head Coach Greg Haagsma, commenting on the team's play, stated, "as coach, I was very impressed with the poise of our boys in both the semi-finals and finals games. The experience that our starters had going into those games was very evident. Yuma Catholic provided a very good test for us. They were extremely athletic and shot the ball very well.  However, we kept the pressure on the whole game with our ability to attack the rim with Luke Shaw and Austin Wallace as well as hitting a few 3 point shots by Kyle Grier and Luke Shaw. I thought that Carson, Kyle, and Austin's rebounding was a difference maker in that game and Jake Harrison had a very strong game as well. Our determination and persistence to putting pressure on them finally got them to break a little and we opened up the game at the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter."
 
The semi-final win against Yuma Catholic set the Trojans up for a state final matchup against the Monument Valley Mustangs, who finished the regular season ranked 6^th in the AIA 3A Division.  The Mustangs played in an intense state semifinal game, edging out ALA-Ironwood 63-62 to earn a birth to the 3A state final matchup with the VC Trojans.
 
The crowd inside the Coliseum was overwhelmingly in support of Monument Valley, but the Blue Crew showed up and matched the intensity of the opposing fan base. The game started out in a back-and-forth battle between the two teams, with the Mustangs holding a 15-13 lead at the end of the 1^st Quarter. The Trojans came out on fire in the 2^nd quarter and outscored their opponent 17-8 to go into halftime with a 30-23 lead.
 
The VC boys continued to play focused, disciplined basketball and increased their lead to 10 points at the end of three quarters, leading 48-38. The Trojans totally dominated the 4^th quarter, limiting the Mustangs to 6 points and ultimately closing out the game with a 65-44 win to secure the back-to-back state championship.
 
Once again Luke Shaw led the Trojan offense, scoring 34 points, going 10 for 11 from the free throw line and connecting on 4 three pointers. Shaw also accounted for 9 rebounds. Austin Wallace was the 2^nd highest scorer with 8 points and led the team with 10 rebounds, along with dishing 4 assists. Carson Grier chipped in with 6 points and led the team with 5 assists.

Coach Haagsma reflected on the finals game by stating, "the finals was a very fun game with a big crowd cheering for Monument Valley.  The 3A reservation schools always do a great job of bringing fans to games. They make 3A basketball a lot of fun. Our second and third quarters were game changers in the final game. Luke Shaw had a great second quarter and as a team we put up 30 points in that quarter. I was very impressed with Jake Harrison's ability to take away their leading scorer who had dominated games to this point in the state tournament. Our ability to get rebounds and run was the difference maker in this game. We were also very clutch from the free throw line, something that didn't always happen throughout the year. This kept them from having any chance of getting back into the game. It was very exciting for our coaches to see our boys be able to celebrate a back to back title."
 
While on the one hand it is a time to celebrate the accomplishments of an extremely successful season, it is hard not to look to next year already with a level excitement about the possibilities of a 3-peat.  The Trojans will potentially return all 5 of its starters and the top 7 team members in regard to playing time. Congratulations, VC boys basketball team on your incredible title run and we can't wait to see what next season will bring! 

Coach Haagsma shared about this season, "as head coach, I was so impressed with our group of guys. We had the bulls-eye on our back almost all season long. We lived through some injuries to key players. We had a lot of different guys step up and lead us throughout the year, which made me very proud as a head coach. I am excited that most of these guys return next year and give us the opportunity to have another special season."