By Noah Friedman

The stakes were high Friday afternoon as the Division I girls basketball state championship semifinals came to Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix.

The first game saw fireworks as second-seeded Valley Vista met third-seeded Hamilton.

Without one of its senior leaders and arguably one of the best players in the state, Makayla Filiere, Hamilton (25-4) came out with a 51-46 win over Valley Vista (22-7) to advance to the state title game. 

“This was our goal from the beginning of the year,” Hamilton coach Trevor Neider said. “I think at one point or another, everyone made a key play.”

Neider said that his team was the only team that could play without one of the top players in the state and still pull off a win.

Hamilton started and ended the game in a zone defense, limiting Valley Vista’s chances to score down low.

Valley Vista stormed out of the gates to grab an 11-8 lead at the end of the first quarter. Junior forward Kiara Edwards led Valley Vista in scoring, while senior Payton Whitmore had four points in the early going for Hamilton.

Edwards picked up her second foul with 1:52 to go in the first half, which sent Hamilton to the bonus.

At the same time, Hamilton took its first lead, 21-20, on a basket by junior Cardi Harris, a put-back after Whitmore missed a free throw.

Hamilton then went on outscore Valley Vista by four points in the second quarter, 15-11, to take a 23-22 lead into the break. Sophomore Maddie Frederick stepped up for Hamilton, contributing eight points to lead all first half scorers on 4-10 from the floor. Edwards continued to pace Valley Vista with six points.

The key to Hamilton’s lead was a 9-2 run in the final 2:41 of the second quarter to take charge.  

After a dismal first quarter for Hamilton, it ended the first half by hitting 40 percent of its field goals after only making 23 percent in the first quarter.

Junior forward Courtney Colleary set the tone early in the second half for Hamilton, as she drove to the hoop in the first 15 seconds for a basket plus a free throw.

Another Hamiliton junior forward, Hannah White, made a basket less than 30 seconds later, and Hamilton opened up its biggest lead at that point at 28-22, prompting a timeout from Valley Vista coach Rachel Matakas.

The timeout didn’t do her team any justice as Hamilton went on a 5-0 run before Edwards scored again. Edwards finished with 10 points in the loss.

Valley Vista cut Hamilton’s lead to six at the end of the third quarter, 39-33, thanks to a 9-6 run capped by two Taylor Chavez free throws with no time left on the clock. The guard led all scorers with 15 points.

Three early turnovers to start the final quarter for Valley Vista stretched Hamilton’s advantage to 12, 45-33 with 5:26 to go.

Valley Vista got into the bonus three minutes into the fourth quarter, giving them more opportunities to be aggressive. They cut the lead to three with 24 seconds to go in the game on two more Chavez free throws, but that was as close as Valley Vista got.

“We deserved it from the beginning,” Neider said.

 Colleary added, “We’re trying to finish strong.”

Hamilton stalled during its final few possessions to preserve the lead and eventually the win.

Colleary finished with 10 points and knocked down some key free throws. She said that that aspect of the game is something she has practiced a lot from one year ago.

“Last year at this time, I missed a few big free throws, so ever since then, it’s just been my motivation to practice them as much as possible,” Colleary said. “It’s always a big deal now to hit the extra free throws (in practice).”

Hamilton outscored Valley Vista by 14, 34-20, in the paint and won the fast break points at 16-6.

Hamilton junior forward Maya Banks ended with 12 points and said that the points in the paint and rebounding were the keys to the victory.

“Determination. I want to get that ball,” Banks said. “I want to help my team win.”

Hamilton  will take on Mesquite in the championship game at Gila River Arena on Monday at 4 p.m. 

In a rematch of a Jan. 5 matchup, the second game of the D-I girls basketball state semifinals at GCU featured No. 5 Desert Vista and top-seeded Mesquite. 

Mesquite (25-5) walked out with a 73-61 win against Desert Vista (20-7) to earn itself a berth in the state championship game. Desert Vista shooting guard Madison Golla drained a three pointer to put Desert Vista up early, followed by two Kylee Donahue buckets.

But Donahue exited the game with what appeared to be a lower-leg injury with 4:55 to go in the first quarter. However, she reentered less than two minutes later and scored immediately. She finished with six first half points to lead Desert Vista.

Unlike the first semifinal, this game produced a lot of offense in the opening frame, with the two teams tied at 15 after eight minutes of play.

Mesquite came out firing in the second quarter, opening up a four-point cushion halfway through, 22-18. It shot 71.4 percent from the floor during the first half.

Mesquite then went on a 10-5 run to close the half with a 32-23 lead. Senior shooting guard Isabelle Spruit and sophomore point guard Shaylee Gonzales led the way for Mesquite with 10 and eight points, respectively.

“(I played) aggressive and (was) a team player,” Gonzales said.

She would finish with a game-high 21 points.

Shaylee Gonzales said that she felt the pressure playing under the lights at GCU Arena, but once she got used to it she felt confident. Desert Vista kept it close throughout the first half by hitting five of 11 three point field goal attempts, but only shot 32.1 percent overall during that time.

The team finished with 10 triples as a team.

“(The last time we played Desert Vista), in the first quarter, they shot one outside shot at the buzzer and banked in a three,” Mesquite coach Candice Gonzales said. “(In this game), we decided that we needed to pack it in at the beginning to get a bit of a feel for what we they were going to do and then we just jumped on them.”

Candice Gonzales said that she was confident that her team would reach the 70-point mark, so she was willing to give up the three-point shot to Desert Vista.

Mesquite put the game out of reach starting in the third quarter. A 13-4 run in 2:20 pushed the squad's lead to 18, 45-27. The margin would be 19 by the end of the third quarter, 54-35, thanks in part to a stifling press defense that Mesquite introduced from start to finish.

“Our game plan was to let them beat us from outside,” Candice Gonzales said. “The girls knew that if we were going to go somewhere with all this hard work (that) we had to win some games and we had to not just win them, but win them big.”

Senior point guard Alexis Springfield, who scored 13 points in the victory, recorded her 1,000^th career point Mesquite with 7:19 to go in the fourth quarter on a pair of free throws because Desert Vista was over the foul limit.

“It was awesome,” Springfield said. “I’m just happy I got to celebrate (the achievement) with my team.”

Desert Vista will take on the Hamilton in the championship game at Gila River Arena on Feb. 29 at 4 p.m.

“(Hamilton) just (has) height over us, but we’re going to fight to the end,” Springfield said.

Noah Friedman is a sports journalism student at Arizona State University.