San Tan Charter won the 2A state basketball championship last February in dominating fashion, winning four playoff games by an average margin of 27 points.

But the Roadrunners perhaps made a bigger exclamation point over the weekend of June 7-8. 

Late in that week, San Tan Charter got a last minute invite to the Monarch Sports PrimeTime Invitational. As the No. 8 and final seed, the Roadrunners took advantage, proving it can play with--and beat--Arizona's elite big-school programs. 

In a first round non-bracket game, San Tan shocked everyone by beating 5A's top program and Open runner-up Millennium, 57-53. Next up was Perry, the three-time Open and 6A defending state champs. The Roadrunners slugged it out with the Pumas but fell short, 51-46. San Tan finished out with a win over 6A Brophy before falling to O'Connor in a consolation contest.

"I think we broke the stigma that weekend," San Tan Charter coach Kyli Crooms said of his team's performance at the PrimeTime event. "I think we showed what we can do and that we belong. I was especcially proud of our kids against Millennium. They're obviously one of the state's best teams, but there was a point in that game where things got tough, it could've gone the other way, and our kids responded."

Resiliency is a characteristic of championship teams, and this San Tan Charter group has demonstrated it before. Early in the third quarter of its state title game against Rancho Solano, the Roadrunners faced one of their only challenges of the season, facing a 13 point deficit early in the third quarter. No problem. All San Tan Charter did was tear off a 22-2 run which ultimately ended in a 69-54 championship win. 

Then-freshman Peyton Lubash and junior Zaire Richardson catalyzed that comeback. The Lubash-Richardson duo led San Tan Charter in scoring last season, and the Roadrunners return four of five starters from last year's team.

Small Schools and the Fight for Respect

San Tan Charter felt confident going into the PrimeTime tournament and proved it can compete at the highest level despite its 2A classification.

But the Roadrunners are not done yet.

Like many other teams from smaller schools, San Tan Charter didn't receive an automatic invite to this weekend's Section 7 Basketball Camp at State Farm Stadium. It's the biggest and most prestigous high school event of the summer, and catered to college scouts and coaches to evaluate talent.

The Roadrunners will instead have to play their way in through a qualifier bracket that takes place Monday and Tuesday. 95 Arizona teams are broken into 12 brackets. If they win their bracket, they stamp their ticket to the main event this weekend, which runs Friday through Sunday with 160 of the nation's top teams competing.

For schools like San Tan Charter, it's a rare chance for legitimate exposure in front of college coaches from all over the country. And when they're evaluating talent in person, school size is of no concern.

"That's the great thing about the Section 7 tournament," Crooms says. "There are so many coaches and scouts from all levels and they get to see kids up close against great competition. "I feel like we deserved an automatic invite, but as a small school, it's one of those things we have to deal with. There's no point complaining, all we can do is let our play on the court speak for itself."

It should be noted that 3A Valley Christian--winner of the last three state championships--did receive an automatic invite to the section 7 camp. The Trojans lost their top two scorers from last season, but the three-peat likely gave them the credibility needed, not to mention the dominance with which they steamrolled competition. Much like San Tan Charter, there wasn't much competition for Valley Christian in its 3A conference. The Trojans only lost two close games, one to 6A Boulder Creek, and 6A Clovis West from California.  

Chandler Christian's performance last season was so impressive that most observers agreed the Trojans were worthy of an Open Playoff birth. But the current formatting only includes 4A-6A schools.

After the way San Tan competed at the PrimeTime tournament, coach Crooms is hoping the Open DIvision qualifying will change sometime in the future, allowing schools from every classification to compete.

"Whether it's the Open playoff or some type of tournament of champions including each conference, I feel like we deserve a shot and I hopefully we can continue proving it on the court.

Could the Future for Smaller Schools Become 'Open'?

Of all the major sanctioned high school sports, basketball has the strongest case for an all-out 'Open' tournament with all conferences eligible. At any given time during a game, there are only five players on the court. School enrolment doesn't play the same factor it does in football, where depth and enrollment play a major factor for most schools. There are 33 different positions in every single football game when including special teams. Even a top 2A or 3A football team would face a major disadvantage against a top Open team. 

There would still be a lot to figure out in terms of logistics, but maybe teams like San Tan Charter and Valley Christian have given the  Arizona Interscholastic Association something to consider down the road.

Until then, it never hurts to see the 'Davids' hold their own against the 'Goliaths'.

For those who didn't get a chance to see the girls Section 7 action this past weekend, tickets for the upcomin week may be purchsed here: https://linktr.ee/section7az

 

Ben Stapley is a staff writer for AZPreps365.com. For story ideas contact him at bstapley@azpreps365.com or 480 295-9125