Rudy Aguado is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism Student aissigned to cover Hamilton High School for AZPreps365.com

CHANDLER - After winning its first two playoff games on the road, the 9th-seeded Hamilton Huskies clinched a spot to the 6A state championship game with a 61-55 victory against Boulder Creek in overtime. 

Before Friday night's game, Hamilton had taken down No. 8 Mesa and No. 1 Sunnyslope. While Boulder Creek had eliminated No. 5 Highland and No. 4 Mointain Pointe. 

The No. 12 Jaguars had the lead for the majority of the game, leading by as many as 14 points, but the Huskies fought their way back. Seniors Quincy Adams (23 points) and Daimon Denning (19 points) were two important players in the Huskies' comeback victory. 

"Adversity is nothing new to us," said Adams. "We play big games all the time so it's nothing new to us. We just have to lock in and go out and execute perfectly."

Although Hamilton opened the game with a three-pointer by Aaron Foote, the Jaguars answered back as Dylan Spilde ties it with a three on the next possesion. Quincy Adams cut the deficit with a lay-up , but Rowan McKenzie hit another Jaguar three to make it a 6-5 lead.

The Jaguars led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter as Spilde and McKenzie had a combined 12 points. 

Quincy Adams playing defense against his opponent. (Photo by Rudy Aguado/AZPreps365.com)

Adams and Denning started the second quarter with a layup each to cut the decifit, but the Jaguars answred back with another three-pointer and lay up by McKenzie. Two more buckets in the paint by Carson Gates and Rafen Morrison expanded Boulder Creek's lead to 23-11 with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. 

A three-pointer by Gates gave the Jaguars a 26-12 lead, which would be the visitors' largest lead of the night. At this point, the game seemed to be in favor of the Jaguars but the Huskies refused to give up. 

Foote hit back-to-back three pointers for the Huskies to close the first half. The Jaguars led 30-18 at halftime.  

"I thought we got out of character in the first half that we started going things that we normally don't do," said Hamilton coach Doug Harris. "I had to tell my players to do what we do and stay together."

The third quarter started with 12-6 run for the Huskies. Denning and Foote each hit a lay-up followed by a huge three-point play by Quicy Adams to cut the lead to 36-30 midway through the quarter. 

The Huskies outscored the Jaguars 21-12 in the third quarter as Boulder Creek, trimming the Jaguars' lead to 42-39 after three quarters. 

The fourth quarter started with Quincy Adams completing a three-point play to tie the game at 42. Following two missed free throws by Hayden Brewer for the Jaguars, Denning gave the Huskies their first lead since the opening minutes on the next possesion. 

With 1:20 remaining in the game, both teams were out of time outs. Mike Orr hit two free throws to give the Jaguars a 49-46 lead.

Denning scored seven of the 10 Huskies points in the fourth quarter and came up clutch by hitting a game-tying three to send his team to overtime. 

The Jaguars won the tip-off in overtime with immedately committed a turnover. Quincy Adams made a three-point play to give the Huskies a three-point lead, but Espn Polanski ties the game at 52 for the Jaguars on the next possestion. 

Adams had a huge rebound and made five of six free throws in the final minute of play.

"I just had to lock in and I was focused, I said to myself that I need to make these free throws to help my team and close out this game" said Adams on closing out overtime. 

The Huskies completed the 14-point comeback and defeated the Jaguars 61-55 in overtime. 

"This has always been our goal to get to state all year, we knew we had the talent for it," said Adams on how much this victory means for his team. "We just had to go out and work hard and execute it."

"This is probably the greatest feeling I have had since I have been coaching here," said Harris. "This win is big for mre but most importantly for our players, they earned it. They could have quit but they didn't and now they are going to play for a championship."

Boulder Creek Head Coach Justin Collard said although his team fell short, he is still proud of how far his team made it this season. 

"This team are a special group of players and they left a legacy at the school. We had some things go againt us that we're not really sure about but congratulations to Hamilton, they played hard against us," said Collard.

The Huskies will play against their Premier Region rival, the No. 3 Perry Pumas for the third time this season in the 6A State Championship Game at the Arizona Veteran's Memorial Coliseum this Wednesday March 2nd at 8 p.m. 

Perry has defeated Hamilton twice this season. The Huskies are hoping to defeat their East Valley rival in the game that matters most.