#4 Skyline tried to shrug off No. 24 Red Mountain several times over the first 2 1/2 quarters Tuesday night, but the stubborn Mountain Lions weren't giving in.

It took a five-minute run to close the third period before the Coyotes delivered a knock-out blow in a 65-46 win in a 6A East Valley Region game on Senior Night at Skyline.

Coach James Capriotti's Coyotes posted their 14th win in a row - second-best to date among 6A schools (La Joya has an 18-game win streak intact). The Coyotes (23-1, 14-1 power-ranking games) have already clinched the region title with one region game left and two overall. Red Mountain (7-18, 7-0 prg) is battling for the final spot or two for the play-in round come Feb. 14. The Mountain Lions have played better overall since the January portion of the schedule commenced.

A trio of seniors for Skyline played their final home regular-season game with guard Dayton Harris and forwards Tanner Poeschl and Tyree Tyler combining for 42 points. Harris led the Coyotes with 19 - 10 in the first half. Poeschl added 12 and Tyler 11. Sophomore Dominic Capriotti hit double digits as well with 11 points.

Skyline began the game opening up a 9-0 lead after five minutes. Red Mountain buckled down and tied things at 11 by quarter's end. Skyline quickly made it 19-11 at the start of the second period, but Red Mountain cut the deficit to 19-16 with 3:40 left in the half. Skyline stretched its lead to 27-18 by halftime. 

Red Mountain pulled with 32-27 with 5:19 left in the third quarter. That was its final run at Skyline. An 18-3 surge to close the quarter paced by Harris and Poeschl made it 50-30 and that was ball game.

Red Mountai was led in scoring by Brock Heywood with eight points and three teammates collected six points each.The Mountain Lions cleared theiri bench early in the fourth quarter looking ahead to finish the regular season with important games at Perry on Friday and at Mesa on Feb. 11.

Skyline, which won two competitive invitationals  - Phoenix Union in late November and McClintock in late December - hasn't been challenged since. The Coyotes last nine wins of the 14 in January and Feburary have all been by double-digits. The average margin in those is 22 points. A caveat to all that winning is that none of the victories have come against a team in the top 20 of the current 6A power rankings.