The Miami Vandal boys beat Valley Sanders to win trip to the State 2A championship, only to get knocked out of the tournament on Friday, Feb. 15 by Alchesay in an 81-40 rout.

Sanders was no pushover, being second in the 2A North conference. They lost to Alchesay twice and Hopi in their region; otherwise had a winning season winning 12 games to seven overall. They were accompanied by a full cheering section of fans who made the long drive from Sanders and made almost as much noise as the Viking fans, shouting, “Defense! Defense!” Miami suffered in the shadow of Globe, but they had a 10-8 record and showed it on Wednesday on their home court.

During the first quarter, Sanders had a deficit of only five points, but by the half they were behind 24-33 after getting to one point off of Miami half way through the quarter. Sanders’ big man, Marcellus Barney, scored 18 points in the game, but Michael Troglia, Miami No. 23, scored a mixture of 2- and 3-point baskets to end up with a total of 19 points.

Brady Bartholomew, No. 10, and Jayden Goss, No. 12, each put in 12 Miami points. Kris Klindt, No. 40, and Tanner Perry, No. 14, put in five points and Gabe Escobedo, No. 22, put in six. Steven Stapleton, No. 25, Matt Riddle, No. 32 and Matt Mejia each scored two.

Finally, Mario Pierce contributed a free throw in the last quarter. Only two players did not score; one was briefly in and the other was not in at all.