Stas Yamnitskiy Flagstaff High's Vince Pinto, center takes a shot while Coconino's Trevor Kriesel (23) and Josh Ingram (24) defend during a Friday night game at FHS. (Stas Yamnitskiy/Arizona Daily Sun)
Stas Yamnitskiy Coconino's Justin Russell and Flagstaff High's Maurice Kirby battle for the ball during a Friday night game at FHS. (Stas Yamnitskiy/Arizona Daily Sun)
Stas Yamnitskiy Flagstaff High's senior Brad Stevens, far right, banks in a shot over Coconino's Justin Russell (50), Aaron Garcia (14) and Brent James (34) during a fourth quarter Friday night at FHS. (Stas Yamnitskiy/Arizona Daily Sun)
The Panthers' trio totaled all but seven of the Panthers' points, but shot a combined 29 percent (8 for 28) from the floor. For the game, Coconino shot 24 percent and was outrebounded 28-18.
"What it really comes down to is they have athletes and size that not even many 5A-I teams have," Panthers coach Kelley Smith said. "They're just bigger than us. It's hard to guard that. They're loaded. It's like a 3A team playing a 5A-I team.
"I can't fault my kids," he added. "They played hard."
Coconino pulled to within five points, 25-20, on a baseline dunk by Kriesel 30 seconds before halftime. But Callum Long (12 points) sank a pair of free throws just before the half and Frost opened the third quarter with another 3 to push the lead back to 10.
The Panthers never got closer than six points the rest of the way, and the Eagles put the game away with a 9-0 run late in the game.
"Just credit the guys," Kirk said. "They hung tough, they played hard, ran the floor, they pushed the ball. That's what we talked about: we've got to work harder than Coconino, because Coconino always works hard."
Flagstaff High 51, Coconino 35
COCONINO -- Russell 4-10 5-5 13, James 1-6 0-0 2, Kriesel 3-12 6-6 13, Wytroval 1-1 0-0 2, Robinson 1-3 1-1 3, Schwartz 0-1 0-0 0, Garcia 0-5 0-0 0, Conigliari 0-0 0-0 0, Ingram 0-0 0-0 0, Lundy 0-0 0-0 0, Hobson 0-1 0-0 0, Moeller 0-0 0-0 0, Bonner 0-1 2-2 2, Hurst 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 10-41 14-14 35.
FLAGSTAFF HIGH -- Tate 2-5 0-2 4, Mesa 1-3 0-0 2, Long 3-5 5-6 12, Tsingine 1-6 1-2 3, Frost 6-9 6-8 20, Pinto 0-3 0-0 0, Scully 2-4 0-1 4, Stevens 0-3 0-0 0, Kirby 2-3 1-2 5, Mathias 0-0 0-0 0, Gray 0-0 1-4 1, Roberts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-41 14-24 51.
Coconino 9 11 11 4 -- 35
Flagstaff High 14 13 11 13 -- 51
3-point goals: Coconino 1-14 (Kriesel 1-6, Garcia 0-4, James 0-1, Robinson 0-1, Hobson 0-1, Bonner 0-1). Flagstaff High 3-9 (Frost 2-3, Long 1-2, Tsingine 0-2, Stevens 0-1, Pinto 0-1).
