Brevin Monroe is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Fountain Hills for AZPreps365.com. 

The Fountain Hills boys basketball team defeated the Chinle Wildcats 73-71 in the second round of the 3A state tournament Saturday.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we got it done,” said Falcons head coach Jeffry Bonner.

Early in the first quarter, the visiting Wildcats were able to push ahead 7-4 and had the fan advantage with three quarters of the gym filled with Chinle fans. After a Wildcats timeout, Fountain Hills was able to get some offense going behind a three-pointer from senior JT Mitchell and six points from sophomore Mitchell Perkins. This 9-0 run propelled the Falcons to a 13-7 lead after the first quarter.

In the second period, the Wildcats scored their first basket after nearly six minutes of elapsed time. The Falcons continuously cut through the lane in an effort to find easy baskets underneath. These buckets proved to be the majority of the Falcons second quarter points, and they went into halftime with a 27-16 lead.

The third quarter was all about the pace of play, as both teams ran the floor out of the halftime break. The Falcons also used their height more in this quarter with all 12 points coming from posts. This combination of height and speed played perfectly into Perkins' hands. The sophomore added eight more points in the quarter, nearly all coming on the fast break. Senior forward Alex Rieck also got involved, scoring four of his eight points in the period.

Chinle struggled to defend Fountain Hills transition offense all night, and they faced a tall task trailing 39-27 going into the fourth quarter. However, the Wildcats were far from out of it as they made three-pointers on each of their first three possessions. Senior guard Kylen Yazzie had two and senior Javis Woody put up one to cut the lead to 45-36. 

Chinle switched to a press defense and suffocated the Falcons anytime they tried to advance the ball over half court. Then disaster struck for Fountain Hills as Perkins, the leading scorer, fouled out midway through the fourth quarter. Perkins put up 26 before he was forced to the bench.

“I was so mad at myself,” Perkins said. “I had faith that the rest of the team would pull through though.”

However, the Wildcats attacked once Perkins was out and began incorporating a trap in their full court press that created even more turnovers for the Falcons. After another fourth-quarter three from Chinle, the lead was cut to four. Fountain Hills then took a five second violation on the ensuing inbounds pass.

The Falcons sought to put the Wildcats away with Mitchell’s third three-pointer of the game which gave them a 54-48 lead with 1:30 to go. Chinle senior forward Jake Guy converted an and-one after making a layup to cut the deficit to three. He then scored off a turnover to make it a one-point game with the clock running down. 

Fountain Hills managed to go one of two on the intentional foul shots and led by two with the Wildcats getting one more chance. Javis Woody completed the comeback by knocking down a midrange jumper at the buzzer to force overtime and stunned the Falcons fans into silence.

In overtime, Fountain Hills took the lead first, before a three-pointer by Kylen Yazzie tied it at 60. Jake Guy got his third big bucket for the Wildcats as they took the lead for the first time since the opening quarter.

The Falcons managed one more free throw, and Chinle senior Tristan James extended the lead to 65-61 with 11 seconds left. Then it was time for Aiden Logan to take over. The junior forward drove down the court for the Falcons and drew a foul. After missing the first free throw, he made the second, making it a three-point game.

This set up a Chinle inbounds pass that was stolen by Fountain Hills. Bonner immediately called timeout with just three seconds left. Logan caught the inbounds pass, shot a three-pointer at the buzzer and made it, tying the score at 65 and forcing a second overtime.

“They switched and fell asleep under the screen,” said Logan. “I saw my chance and took it. I had to.” 

“It seemed like it was over, but we kept telling the guys, you gotta fight,” said Bonner. “It’s not how we drew it up perfectly, but we did get it to the guy we wanted to get it to. And it went in.” 

In the second overtime, the two teams went back and forth ending up tied at 71, before Chinle’s Kylen Yazzie limped off the court and missed most of the second overtime. The Falcons took the lead 73-71 where it remained, despite Yazzie coming back in for the Wildcats final effort.

Fountain Hills, the number five seed, moves on to the 3A state quarterfinals where it will face off against #13 seed Northwest Christian. The Crusaders upset  #4 Yuma Catholic 57-44 in its second-round matchup. The game is set for Tuesday, February 22 at the Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.