Boulder Creek enters state as top seed
Marc Buckhout ~ Managing Editor ~ 02/24/2010

A year after a making the program’s state tournament debut the Boulder Creek Jaguars enter the 2009-2010 postseason with a different look.
Instead of being a novelty, the bright-eyed newcomers to the post-season festivities, they are this season’s No. 1 seed as the playoffs start at 7 p.m. Thursday.
If the No. 1 seed doesn’t catch opponent’s attention the team’s 16-game winning streak or 24-2 overall record should.
“I thought we’d be good, but I didn’t know we’d be this good,” acknowledges senior guard Ryan Crane, the Northwest Region Player of the Year. “We know anybody that was good enough to make it this far is good enough to beat anybody else, but we also know that we have the talent to get the job done.”
In their bid to finish the season with a 20-game winning streak, that would conclude with the program’s first state championship, the Jaguars begin with a familiar foe, Northwest Region rival, the Deer Valley Skyhawks (14-11).
In three contests this season Boulder Creek beat the team from Glendale by 7, 7, and 17 points in the latest contest Feb. 9, in Anthem.
While the Jaguars are the second highest scoring team in the 5A Div-II postseason, at a tick under 69 points per game, they are resolute in the fact that their defense will determine their fate.
“Defense wins championships and that has to get us going early and often,” Boulder Creek coach Randy Walker said. “Against Deer Valley our success will be based on being able to stop their dribble penetration. We’ll start out trying to force them to beat us from the perimeter. If they start making them, we’ll adjust, but going in we want to make them a perimeter team.”
He also said staying out of foul trouble will be important. Particularly important in that department is three-year varsity forward Alex Dykhuizen. At 6-foot-6 Dykhuizen is the team’s top rebounder (10.3 per game) and shot blocker (2.2 per game), but also serves as their go-to scorer (14.8 point per game) on the interior, often setting up his perimeter teammates for open jumpers when defenses collapse to try and stop him.
The team got a scare in the regular season finale when Dykhuizen was knocked to the floor and kicked in the head Feb. 16. Walker said his star center, last year’s Northwest Region Player of the Year, has been dealing with headaches, similar to those he experienced following an automobile accident this summer.
His health status will clearly be critical if the team is to better last year’s run to the quarterfinals.
“We know with him back there we can be aggressive and gamble sometimes going after steals, because even if we get beat he can help and maybe block a shot,” Crane said.
Junior point guard Ryan Zettle, the other starter back from last year’s quarterfinal team, said he and his teammates believe in the message being delivered by the coaching staff.
“We’re playing with confidence,” he said. “We’ll practice hard and be ready for the first game. We’ve got good senior leadership and believe in the system.”
During the 2010 portion of their schedule, which includes 12 wins, the Jaguars have won by an average of 23 points.
In their regular season home finale, however, the Jaguars found themselves in a game that went down to the wire. It took a Crane runner in the final seconds to pull out a win, one that propelled the Jaguars to the No. 1 seed for the state tournament.
“It was good for us to have to go over a late game situation and since we executed that gives us confidence,” Zettle said.
Other than Deer Valley the only tournament team the Jaguars faced this season is No. 8 Desert Mountain, which faces No. 9 Cibola in the first round. The winner would matchup with Boulder Creek at 7 p.m. Saturday assuming the Jaguars beat Deer Valley.
Assuming Dykhuizen is healthy the Jaguars feel they have the combination of talent and chemistry to compete for a state title.
“We’re unselfish, we play good defense, we’ll take it one game at a time and prepare the way we know how,” Crane said.
Zettle said last year’s state tournament, one that included the program’s first state tournament win, and experienced by Dykhuizen, junior Joe Simpson and sophomore Weston Newell has given the team a level of expectation.
“I think I’ll be able to keep my composure better,” Zettle said. “I want to spread the offense around and get my teammates going. That helps me. When I’m open I’ll take my opportunities, but I feel myself getting into the game when I get the other guys good shots. We’re practicing hard. We want to live the dream and go all the way.”
Should the Jaguars advance through Thursday’s opening round and Saturday’s quarterfinals, both of which would be at home, they would play in the state semifinals at 4:15 p.m. Tuesday at Arizona State University’s Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.
In girl’s basketball Boulder Creek (11-12) enters the state tournament as the No. 14 seed. The Jaguars closed the season by winning four of their last five games to earn a postseason bid.
They open the state tournament at 7 p.m. Thursday at No. 3 Kingman (24-4) in a battle of region rivals. In two matchups this season the Bulldogs beat the Jaguars 60-40 on Jan. 8 and 42-41 in Anthem Jan. 26.
The winner of Thursday’s matchup advances to Friday’s quarterfinals where they’ll play the winner of No. 6 Cibola and No. 11 Ironwood.
The girl’s 5A Div-II state semifinals will be Monday. If the Jaguars advance that far they’d play in the 2:30 p.m. game at ASU’s Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe.