Gaona: Local boys teams hit dry spell at Gila River Arena

Six points, two controversial calls and one timely bounce put a sudden end to the season for three Tucson-area boys basketball teams on Wednesday.

Lately, Gila River Arena in Glendale has become heartbreak city for local programs; it could even be called Death Valley. Wednesday’s results were just the latest chapter.

“I don’t think there’s anything about the arena per se. I just think once you get there the reality is there are eight teams and all of them are really good,” Sunnyside coach Rob Harrison said. “They’re competitive games but, unfortunately, Tucson has been on the wrong side of them.”

No. 21 Nogales fell to fourth-seeded Phoenix Paradise Valley 52-51 in the final seconds Wednesday. The same goes for sixth-seeded Sunnyside, which lost to No. 19 Peoria Sunrise Mountain in an 80-77, double-overtime thriller . Then there was No. 10 Catalina Foothills, which rallied from a nine-point, second-half deficit only to lose 61-59 in overtime to No. 2 Avondale Agua Fria. The way the Falcons lost — on a basket at the buzzer — made it even more heartbreaking.

Drama was everywhere Wednesday.

Nogales’ Adalberto Diaz scored a game-high 24 points and snagged 12 rebounds, but was left wondering about a call that gave Paradise Valley the ball with less than five seconds remaining.

The Apaches appeared to have forced a turnover with their press defense after pulling within one, but officials ruled that Diaz touched the ball before it went out of bounds.

“We could have gotten the ball,” Diaz said, his eyes watering. “We could have created something.”

Meanwhile, Harrison and the Blue Devils were left questioning a crucial traveling call made in the final seconds of the second overtime. Senior Cesar Ozuna appeared to score the go-ahead bucket on a drive from the right side. Instead, Sunrise Mountain got the ball and pushed its lead to three to seal the win.

“I’ve watched that clip so many times I’m still not sure if it’s a travel or not,” Harrison said via phone Thursday morning. “I probably feel worse today than I did last year, just because we could taste it.”

Catalina Foothills had the No. 2 seed on its heels thanks to a game-high 25 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore Sam Beskind, but Agua Fria scored at the buzzer to win.

“The ball took a heckuva bounce,” Foothills coach Doug D’Amore said after the game. “It went their way, it could have gone the other way.

“That’s how basketball is.”

Winning at Gila River Arena has been tough for Southern Arizona boys teams lately. Local squads are 2-8 at the venue over the past three seasons; the two teams that won, Cienega and Palo Verde, went on to lose in the next round.

The last team to make the Division II championship game was Salpointe Catholic, which lost to Paradise Valley in 2013. The year before that, Amphitheater got back to the final as the defending champ but lost to Peoria on a buzzer-beater.

No matter how cruel Glendale has been to Southern Arizona teams, the goal — to return — remains the same.

Just hours after Wednesday’s loss, Sunnyside junior Santino Duarte, who missed the season with a knee injury, posted a tweet: “No matter what it takes, I’m going back to that arena next year and getting mine.”

His coach felt the same way.

“The standard has been set by this group of seniors,” Harrison said. “You want to get to the arena, it’s fun. It sucks right now after losing but I know they’re going to look back on it and cherish the memories.”