A couple seasons ago when the last of the COVID-related scheduling restrictions were lifted, it became “Arizona vs. Everyone." That's still true now for basketball as reigning girls Open Division state champion Desert Vista took down New Jersey Non-Public Group B state champion Morris Catholic, 67-59, as part of the State Champions Invitational.

Playing at historic Georgetown University in Washington DC, the 18th-ranked and sixth-seeded Thunder rolled past the 23rd-ranked and third-seeded Lady Crusaders.

The Thunder picked up where they left off at Veterans Memorial Coliseum last month. Quick transitions, hustling for rebounds, and creating an inside-outside game that left Morris Catholic guessing. But DV couldn’t hit its shots early, going scoreless for almost five minutes in the first quarter. But thanks to the defense, the Thunder had a slim 8-7 lead.

“We haven’t been together for about a month since we won that state championship,” said head coach Dave Williams. “I know they’re champions in their heart and that they would fight through it. I told them to keep fighting and keep finding the rhythm. Don’t give up. Stay focused. Do what we do. And they stuck with it.”

Williams’ speech after the first intermission was good enough because Desert Vista came out on fire in the second quarter. During the team’s 9-2 run to start the frame, freshman Jerzy Robinson took over. She had a game-high 10 points and seven rebounds at halftime as the Thunder went into the locker room up 30-19.

Morris Catholic kept it close by hitting all eight of its free throws, but shot just 5-of-26 (1-of-12 on three-pointers) through two quarters.

“We knew that our defense was quick enough and athletic enough to match up with them,” Williams said. “They didn’t catch on fire like they normally do. I’ve seen them play against some of the best teams in the country, and they killed people.”

The Thunder kept it going in the third with a trio of three-pointers plus Robinson’s three-point play highlighting a 19-point period. Two athletic scoop and scores by junior Shay Ijiwoye with under a minute left in the third pushed the lead to 49-35, the team’s largest to that point.

Robinson extended the advantage to 16 points at 51-35 to start the fourth, but then the lead started to dwindle. The Lady Crusaders got within 63-57 with just over three minutes left by pressuring the Thunder into mistakes. But clutch inside shooting by Ijiwoye fended off the late Morris Catholic rally.

“We were just trying to get ourselves to calm down,” Ijiwoye said. “Basketball is a game of runs. It’s about shortening their runs and making ours longer. We knew that was going to happen. We were just trying to do our best.”

Robinson had 20 points and 17 rebounds to lead the team. Ijiwoye finished with 19 points, 12 of them coming in the second half. The biggest difference was rebounding as DV outboarded Morris Catholic 45-20 and finished with an 18-5 advantage in second chance points.

The Lady Crusaders were led by all-state twins Mia and Mya Pauldo. Mia led all scorers with 26 points and had 21 of her team’s 40 points after halftime.

“My thing was we needed to play close to our potential today. I didn’t think we played to the potential we usually play at, but we still played well enough to win the ballgame,” Williams added. “I’m a little tough sometimes. I have my expectations. But they accept it and they do something with it. They play good basketball.”

Desert Vista will now face Lone Peak High School from Highland, Utah, tomorrow at noon EST (9 a.m. Phoenix time) on ESPN+. The Knights are back-to-back 6A champions and feature Utah’s Ms. Basketball and BYU commit Kailey Woolston.