No. 22 Higley came back from three near double-digit deficits in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 17 Ironwood Ridge 63-59 on the road Friday night in the 6A Conference Play-In Tournament. The Knights will be on the road when the 6A state tournament brackets are released and the Nighthawks ended a successful run with a 17-9 overall record under first-year head coach Tad Cain.

The Nighthawks led 40-28 with 19.3 seconds left in the third quarter on a 3-pointer from Andrew Cain but Yarell Greer sparked an 11-0 run on a 3-pointer and a couple of free throws and the Ironwood Ridge lead dwindled down to 40-39 with 6:40 left in the game. The Nighthawks turned around and went on an 11-1 run to take a 51-40 lead with 5:20 left but the game was far from over.

Donovan Dabney hit a 3-pointer with 4:02 left to cut the lead down to 54-47 but Aiden Hanley made it 57-49 with a 3-pointer of his own with 3:24 left. This last lead would not hold with the Nighthawks limited to two made free throws the rest of the way. Dabney put the Knights up 59-58 on a 3-pointer with 1:38 left and Noah Williams tied the game up 59-59 with a free throw with 55.8 seconds left.

The Knights missed a jumper at the other end but Brock Seiber snuck underneath to pick up the rebound and he scored what proved to be the game-winner with 38.1 seconds left. Down 61-59, the Nighthawks missed a 3-pointer at the other end and Greer made two free throws for the 63-59 final.

Hanley led Ironwood Ridge with 18 points, Cain added 13, Williams scored 11, Isaiah Overton scored 10 and Ryan Taylor finished with seven points. The Nighthawks graduate eight seniors. Noah Gloor had a game-high 20 points, Greer had 19, Dabney scored 15 and Taevyn Rose-Landers had six. Higley is 9-15 overall under Kenneth Drake.