#1 Seton Catholic's road to an eighth consecutive girls basketball championship game was not an easy one. #4 Mesquite, its top region rival and one it conquered in two prior meetings, made sure of it Wednesday night as the teams met yet again.

Despite a slow start, struggles shooting and nearly losing a double-digit lead in the third quarter, the Sentinels hung on in the waning moments to edge Mesquite, 39-35, in a 4A semifinal at Seton Catholic.

Seton Catholic (19-1) advances to face #2 Salpointe Catholic in the title game on Saturday, appropriately enough at St. John Paul II Catholic High School in Avondale. Game time is noon. Salpointe edged #3 Sahuaro in its semi. Mesquite (15-5) gave its best shot at beating Seton with a chance to tie or go ahead in the final 15 seconds. Mesquite's other losses were to teams headed to title games on Saturday (Salpointe) and Valley Vista (6A).

The fourth quarter put the finishing touches on a tense, tough-it-out contest. The teams' senior leaders - Seton's Amanda Barcello and Mesquite's Alaya Fitzgerald - were at the forefront. They combined for 19 of the 23 points scored in the fourth period (11 by Fitzgerald and 8 by Barcello). Fitzgerald led all scores with 21 points and Barcello tied teammate Lexi McNabb for team-scoring honors with 15. McNabb was substantially responsible for bringing Seton from behind in the first half and extending its lead in the third period before Barcello handled the final stanza.

"I knew this was going to be a war if we were going to beat them a third time," Seton coach Karen Self said. "....This was an absolute grind."

Seton spotted Mesquite the first six points of the game and didn't score its first points until the 3:38 mark of the quarter. The Sentinels barely trailed at quarter's end despite making 2 of 11 field goals. The Wildcats, led by Fitzgerald's six points in the first quarter, led 10-8. Seton scratched and clawed to own a 16-14 lead at halftime and its shooting wasn't any better (4 of 21 for the half). A credit to Mesquite's effective matchup zone.

The middle quarters were when McNabb, a junior, was at her best. McNabb scored seven of her points in the first half and the other eight in the third period when it seemed like Seton might pull away as the fourth quarter began with a 31-22 advantage. She wounded Mesquite with three-point shooting - 2 of 4 in the first half and 2 huge threes (2 of 3 in the third quarter).

Fitzgerald gradually pulled Mesquite within striking distance in the final quarter, opening it with a three. A 7-2 run over the next five minutes saw Fizgerald add a three and two free throws (Priscila Varela added the other basket) to pull Mesquite within 33-32 with 2:22 to play. A three- point play by Barcello plus a free throw the next possession bumped the margin to 37-32 with 1:23 left. 

Not to be outdone, Fitzgerald converted a three-point play. The Wildcats were down 37-35 with 56 seconds to go. Barcello missed a layup at the :30 mark and Mesquite gained possession.  

After a timeout Mesquite worked about 15 seconds off the clock before settling for a tying shot with a Fitzgerald drive to the basket. Her shot missed. Barcello was fouled with 10 seconds to go and made two free throws for the final margin.

"The third quarter sunk us," Mesquite coach Candice Gonzales said. "They made too many threes (three). That made it tough for us to come back, but we kept at it. I'm proud of how we battled at the end."