Cesar Chavez closed the regular season with 11 straight wins.

This squad hasn’t lost a game since Dec. 29 when they fell to Gilbert in the final of the Holiday Shootout Tournament. The Champions finished the season 16-2, tied with Pinnacle for the best record in the 6A division.

They expect to carry that momentum into their next game as they host Basha in the first round of the state tournament. Basha is coming off a 56-41 win against Red Mountain in the play-in round that set up a clash with Chavez.

Cesar Chavez head coach Gary Lee is well aware that they need to be at their best in order to make a deep run in the tournament.

“We kind of feel that our biggest obstacle is ourselves. If we bond together and play for each other we have a good chance of winning,” Lee said.

Leading the charge for Chavez is sophomore point guard TyTy Washington, who has vastly improved from last year in several aspects. Last year, he averaged 15.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.2 steals per game and 0.6 blocks per game. He increased his output in all of those categories. This year he has posted the following averages: 25.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 1.0 blocks.

“TyTy is a great player. He does a lot of things for the team. He’s a great scorer, he has a high IQ, and knows where to put the ball at,” teammate Lavangelist Hardeman said.

Washington has not only improved from a statistical standpoint. He is now the leader of this team. It is something that didn’t happen right away. It took some time for him to acquire that role.

“At first the others didn’t want to listen to me, because they didn’t want to listen to someone younger than them. Once they found out that I’m here to help them, everybody started listening and we got this going,” Washington said

Being the leading scorer and leader of an elite team is something that may be hard to sustain for others, but not for Washington.

“I just relish it. There’s never pressure. This is what I want to do so whatever I gotta do to be great I’m gonna do it,” Washington said.

Washington hopes to guide his team to its first ever state championship.