The Gregroy School clinched a playoff spot after the Hawks beat Desert Christian 65-54 on the road Friday night. The Hawks are now 18-0 in power ranking games and the team entered the night ranked No. 1 in the 1A Conference and Desert Christian (13-3) was ranked No. 3.

Based on the playoff rules of the 1A Conference, the top team in each of the eight regions earn an automatic playoff berth to the 16-team state bracket. In addition, there are four Super Regionals scheduled and the winners of those will also qualify if different than a region champion. As of now, Gregory School, No. 4 Baboquivari (10-3), No. 6 Fort Thomas (14-3), No. 7 El Capitan (14-3) and No. 10 Antelope (10-3) have all qualified for the state playoffs.

Jackson Dickinson. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

The Gregory School and Desert Christian ended the first quarter tied 19-19 with David El hitting a 3-pointer for the Hawks to tie the game up with about 30 seconds left. Carter Reynolds put the Hawks up 34-27 with 1:51 left in the half but Jonathan Brown scored five points down the stretch to cut the lead down to 34-32 at the half.

Jackson Dickinson hit a couple of 3’s in the third quarter to give the Hawks a 49-42 lead and the team went on to build a 61-46 lead with 2:35 left but Brown and Tyson Dobbins scored four points each to cut the lead down to 61-54 with 35 seconds left. Desert Christian had a couple more opportunities but Justus Turner connected on a couple of free throws and Razin Smith put down a dunk with 18.2 seconds left for the 65-54 margin.

Dickinson led the Hawks with 15 points, Smith and Turner scored 12 each and Ben Head had nine. Brown led all scorers with 23 points, Dobbins added 16 and Bennett Vondrak had eight.

Desert Christian will play at San Miguel (2-10) on Saturday before hosting Valley Union (6-8) on Monday. The Gregory School is gearing up for the Tucson Super Regional set for next Thursday in St. David. No power points will be awarded at the Super Regionals.

Jonathan Brown. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)