21 hours ago 2

Mountain Pointe juniors have eyes on bigger state basketball prize

Two minutes into its first summer game, 6-foot-8 Marcus Isaac had a dunk, a blocked shot and a 3-pointer for Phoenix Mountain Pointe.

Guards Jayvein Moody and Justin Kimbrough then took over, and the rout was on. Mountain Pointe took care of Phoenix Carl Hayden, 80-49, in the opener of the St. Mary's Summer Shootout presented by Monarch Sports on Friday, May 29.

Now going to be juniors, Isaac, Moody and Kimbrough have grown up in the program, experiencing the heartache of 5A championship losses as freshmen and sophomores, both times to Phoenix Central.

"We're very hungry," Isaac said. "We're not the young team everybody looked down on. Now we've got to come extra aggressive, better than before."

Mountain Pointe coach Kaimarr Price returns practically everybody from last year's basketball team that revolved around the Big 3 of Isaac, Moody and Kimbrough, the leaders of a revamped program since they were freshmen.

The next move is to no longer be satisfied with making a run to the 5A final after falling out of the 32-team Open state tournament early. Teams that lose in the first two rounds fall back into their respective conference tournaments.

Instead of wanting revenge against Central, the Pride are thinking about 6A teams such as defending Open champion Phoenix Sunnyslope, Adan Diggs-led Goodyear Millennium, recharged Gilbert Perry and Open semifinalist Chandler Basha next season.

"We're all chasing Sunnyslope," Price said. "Open championship is the goal."

Mountain Pointe went 21-8 last season when Moody averaged 14.7 points, Isaac 14.6 and Kimbrough 11.2 as sophomores. Zen London, who averaged 6.4 points and 4.9 rebounds as a sophomore, is also back.

Carl Hayden Falcons Remy Rose (12) defends against Mountain Pointe Pride Marcus Isaac (20) during a game at St. Mary's High School in Phoenix on May 29, 2026.

Isaac averaged 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks, as well.

"Maturity is the biggest thing," Price said about the improvement Isaac has shown in the past two years. "Not only the physical maturity you can see, as he grows and lifts more weights, but the way he approaches the game, approaches practices.

"He's a lot more aggressive ... . That's going to be a big key for him."

Isaac says he needs to work mostly on his ball-handling and his 3-point shooting. Price believes Isaac is the best interior defender in the state.

He'll spend June with Mountain Pointe before joining Compton Magic in July during the club basketball AAU season. Isaac said his four Division I offers are from Northern Arizona, San Jose State, Utah and California.

"We're coming together," Isaac said. "I know losing the two championships can bring you down. But mentally, we're going to be up. We're going to be all right."

Kimbrough feels this team will be ready to go for a third state final. But now in the Open.

"Definitely, the Open," the 5-11 Kimbrough said.

Moody, who is 6-1, has great leaping ability. He showed that off with three dunks against Carl Hayden in the Summer Shootout game.

"I've worked on that," Moody said. "I'm in the gym for hours and hours."

The team's road to the title starts with Isaac in the post.

"Marcus opens up a lot of shots for us," Moody said.

Kimbrough said Isaac is a playmaker, too, so there are more options to go around on the court for everybody.

"Having him is a blessing," Kimbrough said. "Everybody wants to crash down on him. He sees the court really well and gets us cutting for easy layups."

Richard Obert has been covering high school sports since the 1980s for The Arizona Republic. He also covers Grand Canyon University athletics and the Arizona Rattlers. Please sign up for Azcentral Preps Now newsletter. To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter:@azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Mountain Pointe juniors have eyes on bigger hoops prize

Read Entire Article