30 photos
Centennial entered the Visit Mesa Basketball Challenge having won championships in both of their previous tournaments including Section 7 over the Summer and the LV8 Invitational during the Thanksgiving break. Seeking a clean sweep of its tourney play the Coyotes began Visit Mesa run with the Salpointe Lancers.
The Lancers came out of the gate strong scoring 14 unanswered points in the first quarter. Undeterred, the Coyotes began cutting into the Lancer lead and closed to within 4 at the half. Senior leader Aidan Delafield of Centennial took over the game in the 3rd quarter and logged 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals by the final buzzer. This would be the 6th consecutive 15 plus point game for Delafield.
Centennial went on to win the game 72-66 and earned their date with Notre Dame Prep in round two. Asked for comment about the win, Coach Zach Hettel noted "A raggedy ride is better than a smooth walk! We had a cold start but the guys just kept after it and added another one in the W column." The depth of the Coyotes bench proved too much for Lancers who couldn't maintain Centennial's pace down the stretch.
Centennial would go on to win their next two contests and win the Visit Mesa tournament by defeating ND Prep 65-53 and Cactus Shadows 87-81. Next up for the Coyotes after some well deserved rest is a road trip to Chaparral to face the 6-6 Firebirds.
The Lancers came out of the gate strong scoring 14 unanswered points in the first quarter. Undeterred, the Coyotes began cutting into the Lancer lead and closed to within 4 at the half. Senior leader Aidan Delafield of Centennial took over the game in the 3rd quarter and logged 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals by the final buzzer. This would be the 6th consecutive 15 plus point game for Delafield.
Centennial went on to win the game 72-66 and earned their date with Notre Dame Prep in round two. Asked for comment about the win, Coach Zach Hettel noted "A raggedy ride is better than a smooth walk! We had a cold start but the guys just kept after it and added another one in the W column." The depth of the Coyotes bench proved too much for Lancers who couldn't maintain Centennial's pace down the stretch.
Centennial would go on to win their next two contests and win the Visit Mesa tournament by defeating ND Prep 65-53 and Cactus Shadows 87-81. Next up for the Coyotes after some well deserved rest is a road trip to Chaparral to face the 6-6 Firebirds.
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