Brody Curtner is a journalism student at Gilbert Christian High School assigned to cover high school sports for AZPREPS.com

This past Friday held one of the biggest games of the regular season when it comes to 3A Basketball. A battle between rivals, Gilbert Christian and Valley Christian, came down to a buzzer beater that decided the game. 

The Knights came out strong putting up 17 points in the first quarter to Valley’s 11. The Knight’s brought their momentum into the second quarter extending their lead to 30-15 with three minutes left in the first half. But, Valley’s Trojans didn’t settle and ended the half with a nine point run, leaving the score 30-24. Both teams were trading scores throughout the third, and the Knights bench stepped up with Caden Heyn making all of his shots but one ending the game with 10 points.

At the start of the fourth the score stood at 40-40 and the packed Gilbert Christian gym knew it was about to be a game! Albert Wilson was in foul trouble in the fourth but still managed to put up 10 points and eight rebounds, but while he was out for most of the fourth, Captain Ayden Hoyt helped the Knights defensive effort. With help from Keon Talgo’s strap and Nigel Stanbury, the Knights were up five points with 40 seconds left. Valley’s guard Jaden De Boer led the offense to a comeback and the Trojan’s managed to get a layup to go as time expired. 

However, Knight’s captain Ayden Hoyt wasn’t discouraged by the result, saying “We know that we are capable of beating them even though we lost.”