Earlier in the week, the Canyon Del Oro Dorados laid the foundation for a first-round home playoff game by virtue of beating Salpointe, 4-3, in a tense extra-inning game.

When Donnie Perdue of Pusch Ridge hit the ball towards the left-field fence, it looked like his home run would change the momentum in a game where the Lions mostly trailed. 

Winning the Cowboy up Baseball Invitational earlier in the year, and defeating rival Canyon Del Oro, 18-6, seemed like good building blocks for the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks baseball team (8-2) in their quest to go deep into the 2013 playoffs.

One of the axioms about baseball is that each day brings on a different game. That showed itself during Canyon Del Oro’s first week of the baseball season.

When Marana’s Mally McGarity missed her first 14 shots, it didn’t look like she’d turn into the shooting star of the second half.

Marana has struggled all season to find a go-to-scorer to replace superstar Jamee Swan, who graduated in 2012, going on to Colorado University.

At Ironwood Ridge, a buzzer beater in overtime by senior Kevionte Alexander gave visiting Rincon a 51-49 victory over the Nighthawks last Friday.

First, the opening kickoff is returned 95 yards for a touchdown. Then, the defense yields a 70-yard scoring drive for another touchdown.

Sophomore Taylor Fitzgerald made sure that Pusch Ridge wouldn’t lose on Senior Night.

Ironwood Ridge could be excused for looking past Catalina Foothills, and thinking about their season finale at Salpointe Catholic.

Once again, the Mountain View Mountain Lions defense dictated the terms in a 42-0 win at Catalina Foothills.

Everyone was excited at Marana’s Homecoming celebration on Oct. 5, as the Tigers won big. The fans were excited, the players were ecstatic, and even the coaches were more than elated afterwards.

The bad news for the Mountain View Mountain Lions was that Cienega kicker Robert Griffith set a school record with four field goals.

At Rincon High last Friday, the Rangers’ Andrew Petty struck out 14 batters. He was throwing so hard that radar guns had him touching 90 miles an hour in the first inning.

The Canyon Del Oro Dorados may have lost the championship game of the Dorado Softball Classic, 5-4, against Ironwood Ridge, but the prospects for the reigning state champions still look bright.

The Pusch Ridge Christian Lions lost the Division-II regional tournament final to Palo Verde 42-41 on Saturday.

The Mountain View Mountain Lions have had a hard time finding a third scoring option all year behind Zach Carter and Abdul Hameed.

Pusch Ridge did it again. For the third time this year, the Lions (11-4) defeated the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks (4-11), 38-29, in girls’ basketball.

While defeating the Marana Tigers, 56-43, the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks basketball team (12-0) displayed some of the reasons they are one of two unbeaten teams in Division I play in Arizona.

The Canyon Del Oro Dorados displayed good team balance in defeating Flowing Wells, 63-53, on Jan. 13.

For the Canyon Del Oro Dorados, scoring the first goal early was huge.

Playing four quarters is a mantra that will be very important to Pusch Ridge and coach Lonnie Tvrdy this year.

Jamee Swan scored 13 of her 20 points in the second half to lead Marana to a late rally, but still came up short as the Tigers (3-4) fell to the unbeaten Flowing Wells Caballeros, 48-37.

Ironwood Ridge is a team consisting of almost all seniors, and their experience and depth were more than enough in a 67-25 win at Pusch Ridge on Dec. 2.

On an opening night when offense was hard to come by, Kristen Dohm of Ironwood Ridge found her shot down the stretch.

If the season began with a walk for the Canyon Del Oro Dorados, it certainly ended with a sprint. The Dorados (7-3) ended the year with a 49-0 thumping of Amphi (3-7) last Friday on Senior Night at Canyon Del Oro High School.

On homecoming night at Canyon Del Oro High School, the Dorados’ senior football players gave the crowd something to cheer about, beating the Marana Tigers, 41-21.

The Marana High School Tigers (0-8), appeared to be well on the way to their first win of the season Friday night, with a 21-15 halftime lead over Amphi. But during halftime, the Panthers (3-5) dug down deep and came alive.

Knowing they had a good chance to win going in, the Pusch Ridge Christian Academy Lions football team played with total confidence Thursday night for the first time all year.

When asked if the Canyon del Oro Dorados were suffering from a lack of identity in this first year of their school’s post-Ka’Deem Carey era, coach Dustin Peace replied he didn’t think it was much of an issue.

The Mountain View Mountain Lions (3-2) are learning that the road through Salpointe, Cienega, and Ironwood Ridge is not to be treaded lightly.

Pusch Ridge Christian Academy has had a rough start to the 2011-2012 football season, dropping a third consecutive game Friday night against Tanque Verde.

On Friday, Mother Nature provided the greatest obstacle the Mountain View Mountain Lions have faced during the season’s first three weeks.

A week after handing Canyon Del Oro its first regular season loss since 2008, the biggest concern for Ironwood Ridge High School’s football team was suffering a letdown against Marana.

They call it the “Battle of the Boot,” but this year’s annual Mountain View-Marana rivalry game took on added significance because the game at Marana High School was played on opening night of the football season.

It took the arms and legs of Glendale Deer Valley (30-6) pitcher Lauren Haegar to defeat the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks girls’ softball team in the 5A-II state title game on Friday in Phoenix.

This year, the Canyon Del Oro High School Dorados girls softball team (35-1) took all of the drama out of their 4A-I state title quest in winning for the fourth time in the last five years.

The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks girls’ softball team has won its first two games of the 5A-II state softball playoffs.

The Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks girls’ softball squad has won three straight playoff games in the 5A-II double-loss elimination tournament. The wins have put the No. 3 seed in the state semi-final game.

For the second year in a row, coach George Corona has the Marana girls’ softball team in the playoffs.

Ironwood Ridge began last week ranked as the No. 1 seed in girls 5A-II softball in Arizona. After annihilating visiting Sabino 12-2 last Tuesday, the Nighthawks were on a roll.

After only two innings into the game, Canyon del Oro High School pitcher Sam Hamlett was desperate to shake things up.

When a team scores four runs in the fifth inning to complete an 11-1 win and solidify its 9-0 record as one of the top two teams in the state, according to the 2A girls softball rankings, what’s not to like?

After defeating Salpointe 8-7 at the Salpointe tournament recently in an early-round game, there was hope that the Marana High School Tigers baseball team might be ready to take a step toward beating some of Tucson’s powerhouses.

The wild and crazy atmosphere of the boys’ volleyball game at Ironwood Ridge High School last Tuesday was surpassed only by the frenzied finish of the game itself, as the Mountain View Mountain Lions (4-0) defeated the Ironwood Ridge (5-6) Nighthawks in three of five sets — 21-25, 25-19, 29-27, 26-28 and 16-14 — that day.

It’s early in the season, but baseball coach Dennis Toia is proving he has the chops to fill the big shoes left by his predecessor.

As the South Mountain Jaguars gained momentum and Ironwood Ridge’s leading scorer Brooke Seavitt was on the bench having fouled out, where were the Nighthawks going to get offense down the stretch in their first-round playoff game?

Diane Swan, the coach of the Marana High Tigers, felt relief after escaping with a 40-37 win over Sabino.

With the possibility of a home playoff game for Canyon Del Oro (16-12, 9-1) at stake at Catalina Foothills (18-10, 8-2), it all came down to the final shot of the game.

Brooke Seavitt started the night with a bang for Ironwood Ridge and teammate Kristen Dohm sealed the win as the Nighthawks won their 10th straight game and defeated Tucson 41-37.