FARMINGTON – The Maryvale High School boys basketball team overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat Farmington 56-51 Saturday night at the Scorpion Arena and win the 2024 Marv Sanders Invitational boys basketball championship.
The Panthers completed the comeback without its leading scorer as junior Adrian Stubbs fouled out of the game having scored 26 points midway through the fourth period.
“After (Stubbs) fouled out, I told the rest of the guys they have to step up, and they got to make plays, and they did. I am very proud of them,” Maryvale head coach Jeremy Smith said.
Junior Abram Salazar ignited the Maryvale bench shortly after Stubbs’ exit from the game, connecting on a 3-point shot to bring the Panthers to within one of the Scorpions with three minutes left in regulation.
Farmington got into foul trouble down the stretch, giving the Panthers the bonus with two minutes left to play. Maryvale took advantage of this mistake sending junior David Jaramillo and sophomore Jose Garcia to the free-throw line to give Maryvale a 54-51 lead with just under a minute left to play.
“We just gave the ball away too much, whether it be fouls or turnovers, and it all just seemed to happen at once,” said Farmington head coach Larry-Don Chitty. “That’s a really good team we played tonight, and we just can’t afford to give those types of opportunities to really good teams.”
Jaramillo was sent to the line two more times, but missed all four shots, allowing Farmington a chance to send the game into overtime.
Sanders Boys Invitational, Saturday
Championship game
Maryvale 56, Farmington 51
Third-place game
Durango 49, Canon City 38
Fifth-place game
Window Rock 46, Monument Valley 42
Seventh-place game
Kirtland Central 69, Shiprock 42
With 17 seconds left on the clock, Farmington rebounded Jaramillo’s miss and tried to set up a play to get one of its shooters a clean shot. But the Scorpions fell short after junior Sataurus Griego’s 3-point shot was blocked and rebounded by Panthers senior Devin Murphy, who was then flagrantly fouled by Farmington’s Alex Serrano.
“When momentum changed, it was difficult to get it going back the other way,” Chitty said. “A lot of credit to their guys and coaches. They had a great plan and executed it well.”
Murphy sunk Farmington’s hopes at the free-throw line, making both attempts.
“This means everything. This is my 11th year, and we haven’t won anything, we’re always at the bottom in 6A (Arizona) and we’re trying to change that culture, and it starts with our guys buying in and we’re starting to do that. We’re starting to believe in each other,” Smith said. “We’re leaving this tournament proving that we’re not a one man show, we had to step up and we did that this game and I’m most proud of that.”
Both teams opened the contest struggling from the field in large part of the tenacity of the defensive play, only scoring a combined 20 points in the first period.
The duo of Serrano and Farmington junior Dayton Bizzell was tasked with slowing down the quick Stubbs, and for the most part found success, even drawing a pair of charging fouls early in the first period.
Farmington took charge in the second period, going 6-for-8 in field and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line.
The Scorpions utilized senior Dylon Tso under the basket and relied on the awareness of Landon Begay to jump out to a 13-point lead heading into halftime.
The third period featured a battle between Stubbs and Begay, trading points and displaying a strong feel for driving in the paint.
The difference in the third period was eight points in favor of Maryvale, who slowed down the aggressive Bizzell and Serrano, using Murphy’s tall frame to set screens and free a lane to the basket for Stubbs.
“All the work that we put in translated out here,” Stubbs said. “It takes nights and days, you have to want to win and get in that mindset, and we had that tonight.”
Stubbs was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player and finished the championship game with 26 points, bringing his total over the course of the three games at 96 points. Murphy was also named to the all-tournament team for Maryvale.
Begay was the lone Scorpion named to the all-tournament team, finishing Saturday night with 20 points.
Farmington (5-2) will look to shake the sting from this loss quickly when it travels to take on Bloomfield at the Bobcat Arena Tuesday at 7 p.m.
| TEAM | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | FINAL |
| Panthers | 11 | 8 | 18 | 19 | 56 |
| Scorpions | 9 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 51 |
