The San Tan Charter Roadrunners kicked off its highly anticipated 2023-24 season on Wednesday with a 79-39 win over Mountain Pointe (5A San Tan) in the LV8 Invitational at Chandler Gilbert Community College (CGCC). San Tan will play its second game of the tournament on Friday, Nov. 24 vs Peoria (4A West Valley), 3:00 PM at CGCC, and finish the event on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2:00 PM vs Perry (6A Premier) at CGCC.

The teams took a few minutes to settle in to each team's first game of the season and the Pride's #10 Kaden Gullhuir hit a pull-up jumper with 13:35 remaining in the half to cut San Tan's early lead to two at 7-5. Gullhuir finished the half nine points, but was held scoreless by San Tan in the second half.

Handling Mountain Pointe's full-court pressure, senior Beau Burns found a gap driving to the basket and finished his layup to give San Tan a four-point lead and kick off an 8-0 run. On the ensuing possession, freshman Jase Benjamin showcased his abilities on both ends of the floor, starting with a big block at the basket on the defensive end, followed by an offensive rebound and put-back on the other end of the floor for an 11-5 lead. A basket for junior Kylen Bonner off an in-bound, followed by an aggressive drive to the basket and layup in transition by sophomore Will Gordon, gave the Roadrunners a 15-5 lead with 11:37 remaining in the half.

Mountain Pointe's leading scorer for the game, #3 Amous Price, scored all 11 of his points in the first half and he worked alongside Gullhuir to try and cut down the San Tan lead, but the Roadrunners had answers at every turn with nine different players putting up points in the first half, led by freshman Peyton Lubash with 13.

At the 10:15 mark it was a press-breaking combo of Lubash, to sophomore Jarred Johnstad, to sophomore Kristo Jackson at the basket for a layup and a 20-10 San Tan lead. Moments later, a steal by Jackson would lead to a transition layup by Bonner for a 25-12 lead. With 3:02 remaining in the half it was Jackson going coast-to-coast with a defensive rebound and layup in transition on the other end, drawing a foul and knocking down his free throw for a 37-20 lead. With 1:31 remaining, Lubash drove to the basket and found Burns in the corner for a 3, opening up a 46-24 lead. Finally, it was Lubash again in the closing seconds, faking and sidestepping his defender to hit one of his three first-half 3-pointers and give the Roadrunners a 49-26 halftime lead. Lubash's 13 points led all scorers in the first half. Also leading the way for San Tan was Bonner with 10, and Burns and Jackson with 7.

The Roadrunners emphasized a strong start to the second half and got just that with Lubash hitting a deep three, followed by a layup by Gordon on the first two offensive possessions. San Tan once again found scoring from throughout the lineup, including Gordon leading all scorers with eight second-half points. Also getting going in the second half was junior Zaire Richardson, who put his offensive abilities on display, both play-making - beating his defender 1-on-1 and dropping a great pass to Bonner for a layup - and scoring, finishing a layup in transition off a pass from Bonner to give San Tan a 63-31 lead with 11:37 remaining.  A steal by Johnstad sent San Tan quickly in transition again and this time it was Johnstad, to Richardson, to Jackson, to Gordon for an alley-up dunk, sending the San Tan fans to their feet up 65-31 with 11:14 remaining.

The teams traded baskets over the next several minutes and it was Bonner knocking down a three with 6:23 remaining to give San Tan its largest lead of the game at 42 points, 77-35, as the Roadrunner defense continued its high-level play and held Mountain Pointe to just 13 second-half points. Gordon emphasized the win with a closing dunk inside the final minute to finish the game at 79-39.

Lubash finished the game leading all scorers with 19 points. Bonner (15) and Gordon(10) also finished in double digits for the Roadrunners, while Jackson finished with nine, and Burns and Richardson each added 7 in what was a well-balanced scoring attack for San Tan Charter.

The Roadrunners will now turn its attention to the Panthers of Peoria on Friday, before taking on the two-time defending state champions (6A & Open) Perry Pumas on Saturday. Follow San Tan Charter on Instagram @stcs_hoops for the latest news and info on the team.