MALC High School Basketball Season Ends

Alexus Earl drives down the lane against the Imagine Storm.

MALC's high school basketball season ended last week with playoff losses by both the girls' and boys' teams. Both teams are members of the Arizona Charter Athletic Association Division B.

The Lady Patriots (ranked 22nd) traveled to Surprise (near Phoenix) on Thursday, February 18th to take on the Imagine Prep Storm (ranked 12th) in the first round of State playoffs. Facing a shortage from the bench, the Pats fouled out four players and lost to the Storm 40-35, ending the game with only four girls left on the court. While Imagine also ran into foul trouble, losing three in the game, they held on to a close game for the win. The Patriots were led by #22 Alexus Earl at point guard with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 steals. Neesha Mitchell, #11 center, also contributed 8 rebounds and 3 points. Coach Mike Kern noted, "We had a rough season in terms of player injuries that weakened our bench. However, we have an exceptionally young team with my daughter, Megan Kern, the only senior we're losing. I look forward to seeing this group of girls mature over the next several years into a real threat in our league."

The Patriot guys (ranked 9th), led by coach Joey Leslie, traveled to Kingman on Friday night to take on Star Shine Academy (ranked 27th). Led by Danny Warden with 19 points and Matt Powers with another 14, MALC beat their first round playoff adversaries 50-39. The next morning, the team traveled to Phoenix to take on their second round opponent, Skyline Tech. While the team gave a stellar effort, led by Bryan Reynal with 23 points, it wasn't enough to counter Skyline's Damien Camacho, who's 40 points help his team to a 79-62 victory.

Patriots players from both teams will return to Phoenix on March 6 to take place in the league's All-Star game.