By Don Ketchum

With freshman Darian Slaga leading the way in the backcourt and junior Sam Young working hard underneath the basket, the Anthem Boulder Creek girls found a winning combination on Tuesday night (Feb. 7).

The fourth-seeded Jaguars turned away fifth-seeded Phoenix Mountain Pointe 54-47 in an opening-round game of the Divison I, Section III tournament at Scottsdale Chaparral.

Boulder Creek (23-5) advances to the semifinals on Thursday night (Feb. 9) against top-seeded Mesa Mountain View. Both teams have clinched state-tournament berths. Mountain View defeated Phoenix Horizon 50-26 in a later game Tuesday.

Boulder Creek and Mountain Pointe (21-9) went back and forth most of the game until Boulder Creek went on an 8-2 run to finish the game over the final 2:31.

Slaga hit four free throws before going down with what appeared to be a serious injury to her left knee with 1:14 left in the game. She was on the floor for a few minutes before walking slowly off the court. She returned with 29 seconds left and came up with a key steal to prevent Mountain Pointe from getting back into it.

Slaga, who led all scorers with 19 points, “didn’t want to come out. She’s a tough kid. She has been beat up the last few weeks,’’ said Boulder Creek first-year coach Josiah McDaniel.

McDaniel added that the injury was only a contusion.

The 6-foot-3 Young scored nine of her 17 points in the second half. And she had a solid effort on the boards.

“We told her (Young) at halftime that she had to win the game for us with her rebounding,’’ McDaniel said.

Junior guard Delaney Swader was all over the floor, scoring 10 points and using her speed to harass the Mountain Pointe guards.

“She’s a catalyst,’’ McDaniel said.

Mountain Pointe stayed in the game with the work of Hannah Sharpe, who waged a good duel with Young inside most of the night. Sharpe scored 17 points, and guard Myesha McGhee scored 10.