All good things must come to an end. In this case, Desert Vista’s run through the State Champions Invitational played at Georgetown University. The Thunder ran up against a taller Lone Peak team that shot lights out and fell 68-60.

But not before the Thunder almost had a rally for the ages.

“We just tried to stick to what we do all the time and they took it away,” coach Dave Williams said. “Usually Jerzy (Robinson) dominates down in the paint. Today they built big walls around her and she couldn’t get any clean shots off. Every shot was contested. (Lone Peak) played tough as nails. They took away our strategy.”

The game started off on a positive note. The Thunder, hoping to run into an LPHS team that might still be shaking off its rust due to a bye in the tournament and not playing in over a month, got up 9-5 thanks to defense turning into offense. But Lone Peak outscored Desert Vista 16-6 the rest of the way in the first quarter and managed an 11-9 advantage in the second quarter for the 32-24 halftime lead.

Sophomore Michaela Fairwell stole three passes in the first half and turned that into four points the other way. Desert Vista actually outrebounded Lone Peak 15-10, but shot 39% compared to 52% for the Knights.

Lone Peak featured a mix of height and quickness. The post players were altering not just the Thunder shots, but also passing lanes. DV committed 10 turnovers in the first half, including errant passes on consecutive possessions. The Knights guards were not afraid to put it up for three in the first half, hitting on 6-of-15. Some of them from NBA range.

They finished 11-for-26 in the game from behind the arc while attempting 23 two-point field goals.

“In a regular game we get the steal and push it up the court. Today our girls would not bring the ball up the court or take the shot,” said Williams. “Everyone we lean on for those shots just didn’t hit them. We panicked and we took a bunch of bad shots today.”

The third quarter was the dagger. After DV scored the first basket, Lone Peak went on to win the frame 23-9 and take control of the game. The lead got as high as 27 points at 62-35 in the fourth, but that’s when the Thunder went on a 17-2 run in less than two and half minutes to bring it back within 64-52.

However, after some back and forth in the last 2:30 of the game, the Thunder couldn’t get any closer than the final margin of eight points on a Robinson layup at the buzzer.

The team just needed a few more minutes to pull off what could have been one of the biggest comebacks against one of the toughest opponents the program has ever faced.

“When the girls are going downhill and playing with some fire and don’t care about fouling out, we can turn over anybody. I thought we could have had them,” Williams remarked. “But it is what it is. I’m proud of them because we came here and competed.”

Desert Vista is used to running up against teams like this, especially at tournaments like the Nike Tournament of Champions hosted in Phoenix each season. Both the Thunder and Knights participated in the top-flight Vincent Cannizzaro Division this past December, but did not face each other. Lone Peak has lost three games all season, two of them coming to nationally-ranked teams at the TOC.

The future looks bright for this Thunder team. Only two members graduate this year from a team that rolled to an Open Division title. It is easy to see that they will be frontrunner for a repeat and make more noise against national competition.

“There’s no way in the world am I going to be upset with this team,” Williams added. “Look at us. We went from having 13 girls, only seven could play, didn’t have enough to practice. And now we’re on ESPN. And we’re playing the best teams in the country. We balled.”