FLAGSTAFF — Bella Burcar scored 14 points and Flagstaff hit eight 3-pointers in a 65-36 win over No. 23-seeded Mountain Ridge in the first round of the Open State Championship tournament Tuesday night.

The Eagles (22-5, 12-0 4A Grand Canyon) have now won 14 straight games and are set to play No. 7-seeded Pinnacle in round two Thursday.

Flagstaff was the only northern Arizona school to survive the first round of the inaugural Open tournament Tuesday night. On the boys side, both Prescott and Bradshaw Mountain (fellow Grand Canyon region members) lost.

Longtime head coach Tyrone Johnson said earlier this week it was “put up or shut up” time for a Flagstaff program that likes to tout it can play with anyone, including 6A and 5A teams.

"Bella Burcar played an outstanding game and was a big factor on the boards," Johnson said. 

The Mountain Lions (17-8, 5-5 6A Desert Valley) are ranked No. 10 in the state at the 6A conference level, the highest a school can play at in Arizona high school basketball.

With the loss, they’ll head back to the 6A state tournament and be re-seeded accordingly.

For Flagstaff, Morning Honcni scored 12 points and was one of three players in double figures for the Eagles. Jazmine Dugi had 10 on two 3-pointers.

Look for a recap of Thursday night’s second-round contest between the Eagles and No. 7-seeded Pinnacle on azpreps365.com.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and is being broadcast live on the NFHS Network.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @AzPreps365Brian. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.