When Jim Reynolds and his wife, Linda, pulled moved to Tucson from Cincinnati five years ago, basketball wasn’t part of the plan. Yes, Jim Reynolds had spent 29 seasons as a head coach and 10 years as an assistant, but that was in past.
The Reynolds’ move West was more about being closer to children. Their son, Ryan, is the UA men’s basketball team’s assistant director of operations, and their daughter, Erica, is a physical therapist living in Denver.
But the coaching bug didn’t go away. Before long, Jim Reynolds found himself back in the gym.
“After not being a head coach for two seasons — (I) volunteered part-time at Pusch Ridge Christian Academy Year 1 — I decided to apply for the Salpointe position,” he said.
And what a rude return it was.
Salpointe Catholic went just 3-14 in Reynolds’ first 17 games, a jarring start for a coach who went 446-210 in Ohio and was inducted into the Madeira High School hall of fame. Relief came in the form of Evan Nelson, who sat on the bench through those first 17 games due to transfer regulations.
Once Nelson hit the floor, the team came together. The Lancers went 12-2 the rest of the way, advancing to the Class 4A state championship game, where they lost to Shadow Mountain.
Reynolds and the second-seeded Lancers will return to the finals again Saturday at noon, when they take on top-seeded Peoria at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum for the 4A crowd.
Salpointe’s latest crack at their first-ever state title might be their best chance yet. Unlike the previous three years, it won’t be against the school’s nemesis, Shadow Mountain, which defeated the Lancers in the 2017 and 2018 state finals and last year in the semifinals.
Peoria, however, who made short work of No. 4 St. Mary’s, 85-59, in Tuesday’s other semifinal.
“Peoria has had an incredible season going through the regular season power-point games undefeated and sweeping their three games in the state tournament,” Reynolds said. “The win over St. Mary’s indicates the high level that Peoria is playing at. It will be a challenge for sure.”
But Salpointe has shown all year that it’s up for the challenge. And if its three games against a strong Catalina Foothills team are any indication, the Lancers are poised for big things.
The Lancers fell to Foothills 70-67 on Jan. 21 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated.
Then they rallied, winning 10 straight and counting. Two of the Lancers’ wins, a 48-39 victory on Senior Night and Tuesday’s 56-50 state semifinal win, came against Foothills.
Catalina Foothills’ Charlie Curtis (2), left, applies some real tight defense on Salpointe’s Evan Nelson (5) during an inbounds situation in their state 4A semifinal at Salpiointe High School, February 25, 2020 Tucson, Ariz.
Tuesday’s game came down to free-throw shooting, which has been a mixed bag for the Lancers all year.
For much of the game, Salpointe failed to take what amounted to a huge advantage at the charity stripe, making just 14 of 22 free throws. Nonetheless, in a game decided by six points, the Lancers outscored the Falcons 14-1 at the foul line.
“That is a recipe for winning basketball in most cases,” Reynolds said.
The other key to Tuesday’s win was Salpointe’s ability to control the boards. The Lancers outrebounded the Falcons 27-20 despite giving up inches to 6-foot-9-inch Will Menaugh and 6-5 Trace Comeau.
Salpointe’s 6-3 Grant Weitman was tasked with stopping Menaugh, though others provided valuable help.
Jordan Gainey added eight boards to his game-high 19 points, Jake Cioe had six rebounds and Tommy Irish supplied some solid post defense when Weitman got in foul trouble.
The result: a win, and one shot for Reynolds to bring home his first-ever state championship in 43 years of coaching.
