On a day a day the Wirth sisters, Jenn and LeeAnne, of Seton Catholic, and the Bibby’s of Shadow Mountain, dad/coach Michael Sr. and son Michael Jr., helped their respective teams win state basketball championships, the Hatch family of Mesa High capped the basketball season with a memorable performance of its own.

Brothers Mark and Drew Hatch were the leading scorers in Mesa’s 51-48 Division I state championship boys basketball victory over Sunnyslope. But they weren’t the only Hatch on the floor Monday at Gila River Arena.

Serving as an assistant on Mesa’s bench was Kirk Hatch, Mark and Drew’s father.

“It’s been great all year long, to be close to (Mark and Drew) and be a part of this,” Kirk said. “The one thing that I love about (Mesa boys basketball coach Shane) Burcar and Mesa is that it’s a team effort. We’ve always emphasized that. My boys fit very well into that. They are very unselfish. This was just a great team effort.”

Sunnyslope led by as much as 12 points in the second period, but Drew made two big baskets at the end of the second period to help cut the lead and send his team into halftime with the momentum.

His final first half basket came on a play that Drew and Mark have worked on many times.

Mark took an inbounds pass with 5.3 left, dribbled to about midcourt and then passed it to the Drew on the right wing, where Drew drained a three before the buzzer sounded.

That sent Drew’s teammates into their locker room with a spring in their steps, trailing by just four points (27-23).

“It’s very special to play out there with him (Mark),” Drew said. “He stepped up huge. It’s unbelievable how he played in this environment.”

Drew (20 points) hit another three with about 53 seconds left on the clock in the third period to give Mesa a 37-35 lead.

Mark’s big moments came in the fourth period, when he scored seven of his 12 points, including a jumper with 2:15 left that pushed Mesa’s lead to 47-40.

“This is definitely huge and fun to play together with my brother and be coached by my dad,” Mark said.

This wasn’t the first basketball title the Hatch family helped bring home.

Kirk played for his father, Boyd, at Snowflake, where father and son helped that school win its first ever boys basketball state championship (1982.) The athletic gene pool of the Hatches doesn’t end with the basketball members in the family.

Kirk’s eldest son, J.T., plays volleyball at UCLA and led Mesa High’s boys volleyball program to a state runner-up finish in 2014. On Monday, Kirk wore under his purple dress shirt a shirt with UCLA insignia, so there was another Hatch on the court in spirit.

There was also another Mesa HIgh coach at Gila River Arena related to J.T., Drew and Mark. Their mom, Amy Strawn, Mesa High’s girls volleyball coach, was in the stands cheering her boys on.  

Monday likely won’t be the last time we hear from the Hatches. Drew is a senior, but Mark is a sophomore.

And Annie and Kate, the youngest of the Hatch siblings, are volleyball players.  

“We are always in the gym it seems,” Drew said.

And winning big games.