Boyd Baker Tipoff Classic Championship

Sahuaro 54, Rincon/UHS 30

Tucson Rincon/University is the early surprise girl's basketball team of the year thanks to a run to the championship game of the Boyd Baker Tipoff Classic where they came up against Tucson Sahuaro.

Sahuaro led 14-8 after the first quarter but limited Rincon to three points in the second quarter as the Cougars pulled away for the 54-30 win.

Samantha Hacker led Sahuaro with 16 points but the night belonged to her head coach Steve Botkin.

With the win, Botkin reached 400 wins for his career. He became the 13th girl's coach in AIA history to reach 400 career victories.

"This means a lot but I have benefited from being around a lot of unbelievable coaches," said Botkin.

"I learned from Dick McConnell and Jim Scott and did some coaching with Mike Dyer. The fact that McConnell still shows up to some of my games means a lot.  I have also had the same coaching staff for about ten years and that is important," he added.

Botkin is the winningest coach in Southern Arizona history. Former Marana coach Dyer had 337 wins and Scott had 333 wins at Sahuaro.

Botkin was an assistant at Sahuaro from 1988-94 before moving over to Rincon/University where he built a 116-58 record before being named head coach at Sahuaro in 2001. 

"If all goes well I will retire from Sahuaro," said Botkin. "I've had some incredible talent here."

 

Career Coaching Wins

Don Petranovich 778 Winslow

Miner Webster 734 Highland

Karen Self 567 Seton Catholic Prep

Tom Bunger 551 Gilbert

Jim Graham 531 Cactus

Brent Carter 490 Saguaro

Ken Pulsipher 483 St. John's

Frank Mattucci 478 Desert Mountain

Robert Nash 478 Monument Valley

Bruce Consier 454 Phoenix Christian

Scott Timmer 454 Valley Christian

Steve Burke 446 Thunderbird

Frank Denogean 440 St. Mary's

Steve Botkin 400 Sahuaro