2023 MLK Basketball Classic Story

The Martin Luther King holiday was celebrated with a full day of basketball at McKale Center on the University of Arizona Campus on Monday, January 16, 2023. Thousands of basketball fans watched 8 high school basketball games and an elementary school exhibition game.

High-lighting the action on the court was The Gregory School’s senior Vince Edwards who scored 17 points to lead the Hawks to a 62-to-35 victory over the St. Augustine Wolves.

Christian Carter netted 23 points and Bradley Curtis added 20 as the Thatcher Eagles defeated the Sabino Sabercats 80-to-70. Westin Haebig was the leading scorer of the game with 37 points for the Sabercats.

In the final game of the MLK Classic, which tipped off just after 8:00 PM, Jameson Salkowskie scored 15 as the Catalina Foothills Falcons outpaced the Cholla Chargers 54-to-37.

In girls’ action, Sienna Paz scored 11 points to lead the Sahuarita Mustangs to a 55-to-30-point win over the Amphi Panthers.

Sophomore Sidney Anderson lead the Ironwood Ridge Nighthawks to a 63-to-34 win over the Mountain View Mountain Lions with 21 points.

Nayeli Nidez-Acuña scored 14 points and Gabi Delgado added 13 as the Sunnyside Blue Devils beat the Rincon / University High School Rangers 42-to-34.

The day of basketball began at 8:00 am with a girls’ 5th grade and under exhibition game with Jazelle Penn scoring 6 points to lead the Manzo Bobcats over the Booth Fickett Falcons 12-to-10.

The MLK Basketball Classic is an annual community event commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by celebrating cultural awareness, good sportsmanship, and citizenship. Scholarships were awarded through an essay contest and those in attendance enjoyed halftime cheer and dance team presentations, performances of the national anthem, and recognition of school staff members as part of the celebration.

The MLK Basketball Classic is sponsored by Tucson Unified School District and is presented by Coaches for Charity.

The 2023 MLK Honorees introduced at the halftime of each game were:

Amphi — Tom Frank
Sahuarita — Pete Morales
St. Augustine Catholic — Dr. Barbara Monsegur
The Gregory — Michael Lopez
Mountain View — Robert Kennerly & Adam Vargas
Ironwood Ridge — Bill Lang
Thatcher — Don Conrad
Sabino — Donna Muzzy
Rincon UHS — Roxanne Taylor
Sunnyside — Veronica Vergara
Marana — Mary Francis Mitchell
Tucson High — Robert DeBerry
Salpointe Catholic — Kay Sullivan
Sahuaro — Dr. Charles Collingwood
Catalina Foothills — Gary Reed
Cholla — George Parra

2023 Executive Committee

Cassidy Hare – MLK Co-Chair
Brian Wilson – MLK Co-Chair
Dr. Ed Ackerley – Chairman
Janet Hare – Vice Chair
Joe Paddock – Arizona Interscholastic Association
Desire Wheeler – TUSD
Steve Botkin – Sahuaro High School

Committee

William Ackerley
Sue Darling
Alejandro Delgado
Mike Hairgrove
Shuron Harvey
Nemar Hassey
David Humphreys
Justin Lloyd
Dale López
Ed Meyer
Andy Morales
Chris Schnell
Edgar Soto
Raymond Smith
Elliot Tritz
Kristina Valencia
John Wilfert

Volunteers:

TUSD Governing Board:
Dr. Ravi Shah – President
Val Romero – Clerk
Jennifer Eckstrom
Natalie Luna Rose
Sadie Shaw

TUSD Superintendent:
Dr. Gabriel Trujillo

Assistant Superintendents:
Shawna Rodriguez
Richard Sanchez
Holly Leman Hammel
Mark Alvarez
Brian Lambert
Flori Huitt
Kinasha Brown
Frank J Armenta

Officials:
9:00 Ken White, Neil Katz, Jacob Greenberg

10:30 Anthony Miles, Rafael Gallego, Charles Blue

12:00 Cleo Robinson, Carlos Jimenez, Guillermo Flores

1:30 Luther “Rick” Prewitt, Guy Giordano. Patrick O’Neill

3:00 Reshea Bristol, Jeffrey Mundell, ReCharde Johnson

4:30 Don Riley, Kurt Stueck, Matthew Hudson

6:00 Joseph Miller, Joe Morris Jr., Tyrone Cephers

7:30 Mirum Washington-White, William Colegrove, Mark Ijames

Liaisons to the Officials:
J. Berry Roberts,
Jeremy Graslie

Commissioner of Officials:
Dave Whatton

Liaison to the Teams:
Brian Wilson, Raymond Smith

Trainer:
Mike Boese

Table Crew Chief:
Dale López

Timers:
William Ackerley
Carlos Delgado
Dale López
Joe Porter

Shot Clock
Alejandro Delgado López
Jim Markert
Anthony Delgado

Scoreboard Operators:
Eddie Contreras
Alejandro Delgado López
Dale López
Kris Ritzmann

Announcers:
Brian Alday
Mike Boese
Eddie Contreras
Dale López
Joe Porter

Official Scorers:
Dan Barkley
Rosina Ritzmann
Danielle Clyden
Tom Danehy
J. Berry Roberts