The basketball uniforms were collected, the wrestling mats have been mopped for the last time and the soccer nets were taken down for the 2021-2022 winter high school sports season.
There were several success stories, career highs set and some struggles as well.
Here is a look at how the various teams of Queen Creek fared this year in winter sports.
Boys wrestling
Queen Creek was optimistic heading into the postseason but managed only two Division I state qualifiers after a brutal sectional tournament. Junior Patton Rhees (21-10 at 165) and sophomore Brody Curtis (10-9 at 285) both went 1-2 at the Division I state tournament.
“We have a young, hungry team,” first year coach Joel Anderson said before the postseason. “This year was really about setting the foundation for the what’s to come. The experience they gain now is going to help develop the program down the line.”
ALA Queen Creek had four state qualifiers in junior Joe Comaduran (24-16 at 113), junior Dallin Eckman (23-21 at 144), senior Blue Sheperd (31-13 at 157) and junior Kyler Brennan (31-9 at 165) with Brennan coming the closest to placing as he finished one round away from finishing in the top six in Division III.
Eastmark had one state qualifier as Max Haws went 1-2 at 126 pounds in Division III to finish 25-10 on the season.
Girls soccer
Eastmark had possibly the best season of any teams in the Queen Creek area as the Firebirds finished second in the 3A Metro while going 16-3-1 to earn the No. 3 seed. They won their first playoff game but lost 3-0 to ALA North Gilbert in the 3A quarterfinals.
Eastmark outscored opponents 92-18 as four sophomores reached double figures in goals as Mckenzie Jost had 23, Emilee Mesquita added 16, Paisley Leitzell finished with 12 and Mireya Sauceda found the back of the net 10 times. The foursome also combined for 30 assists on the year.
The four goalies allowed an average of 1.01 goals a game with freshman Ashlee Kelsey logging the most minutes with an average of 0.68 goals a game (7 goals in 820 minutes over 18 games and 38 saves).
Queen Creek finished 11-4-1 and finished third in the 6A Central with a 3-2 record. It was good enough to earn the eighth seed in the 6A playoffs. It ended there, however, as the ninth-seeded Xavier topped the Bulldogs 1-0.
Junior Reagan Richardson was the offensive catalyst with 18 goals and 11 assists while senior Mallory Miller added 12 goals and five assists.
Senior goalie Taylor Prigge allowed seven goals all season for a 0.48 goals per game average over 1,180 minutes.
ALA QC went 7-5 overall and 2-2 in the 4A Desert Sky to make the play-in game as the 20th seed, but lost to 2-1 to No. 13 Mesquite.
Senior Marlee Seever finished with 30 points on the year with 12 goals and six assists while Tiffany Shipley had nine goals.
Boys soccer
The Eastmark boys finished 2-12-2 and missed the postseason action but finished the last five matches 2-2-1. It was a step back from the Firebirds’ initial season a year ago when they went 3-10.
Queen Creek had a difficult year as well as the Bulldogs went on a 1-16-1 record and were outscored 58-15 on the year. Seven players finished two goals each while seniors Mason Gallagher and Alex Lombardi had three assists each.
The Patriots went 9-9 on the season but only 1-3 in Desert Sky play. It was enough to qualify for the play-in round, but they were ousted by No. 12 Walden Grove 2-1.
Senior Javian Hintze had seven goals on the season while goalie Caleb Compton allowed 1.04 goals a game.
Girls basketball
Eastmark finished second in the 3A Metro, nearly won 20 games (19-11), made the state tournament as a 10th seed, won a playoff game before losing to eventual state semifinalist Holbrook.
It was a watershed season for the Firebirds that coach Wayne Brimley just might look back on and say that’s where it all started.
Sophomore Riley Farnstrom averaged a team-best 8.4 points and 2.8 assists, while adding 5.3 rebounds. She was backed by senior Mylie Stones with 7.4 points and 8.2 rebounds.
Queen Creek had a rough season as the Bulldogs went 6-17 and finished fifth in the 6A Central with a 3-7 mark.
Junior Madison Dawson finished with 11.5 points and 1.6 assists and junior Oliaga Glass pitched in 6.8 points and a team-high 4.8 rebounds.
The ALA QC squad went 5-15 overall and 2-6 in the 4A Desert Sky as senior Tatum Matheny led the way at 14.9 points a game while sophomore Chloe Hancock contributed 8.2 points.
Boys basketball
The Firebirds finished 16-11 and earned a spot in the 3A postseason but lost at home in the opening round to Sabino. It was an important season as this group showed the program, which finished third in the 3A Metro, can compete right away while setting the foundation for the future.
Sophomore Tim Gorham led the way while averaging a double-double at 15.1 points and 10 rebounds in the nine games entered on MaxPreps. Freshman Rhys Walcott added 13.0 points while Alex Wells added 12.7 points in six games.
“We have some good pieces,” coach Joe Babinksi said earlier in the year. “These kids like to work hard and that’s an important part of improving as a program. If they have that ‘want to’ then we are in a good place.”
Queen Creek finished 13-14 overall with a 6-4 in the 6A Central and made the 6A play-in game as the 15th seed and defeated Shadow Ridge 65-53 to move onto the playoffs where the Bulldogs were defeated by No. 3 Perry.
Junior Sedrick Nari led the way with 10.3 points and 4.6 rebounds, while sophomore Liam Bunker averaged 9.0 points and 5.6 rebounds.
ALA QC went 15-1 and 5-3 in the 4A Desert Sky to qualify for the play-in and the 18th-seeded Patriots defeated No. 15 Poston Butte 39-38. It led to a match up against No. 3 Peoria in a first-round loss of 83-52.
A pair of seniors led the way in scoring as LeRay Griffin averaged 14.0 points and a team-best 5.3 rebounds and McCoy Kelly added 11.5 per game.
