PRESCOTT VALLEY — Carlos Flores and Ethan Smith each tallied a hat trick as Bradshaw Mountain scored five times in the second half to earn an 8-4 win over Paradise Honors on Monday night.

It is the fourth win in the past five matches for the Bears (5-4, 0-0 4A Grand Canyon), which continues to win despite fighting the injury bug thanks to the efforts of players like Flores and Smith.

 “I think that’s his fourth hat trick on the season. He’s shining, and that’s being down our best player,” Bradshaw Mountain coach Matt Rice said about Smith, who scored two goals in the first half, then sent a rocket past the Panthers’ goalkeeper late for his third.

Rice added that the Bears’ best player, Jair Montoya, has missed the last few matches due to injury, but other players have stepped up.

“That chemistry up top, it suffers a little bit because of it. You saw it today with all the offsides we had and trying to get that substitute striker in there,” Rice said. “Once we get Jair [Montoya] back on board, I can’t imagine what the score is going to be if we’re putting up eight points without him.”

To start the second half, Panthers forward Phoenix Samaniego scored in the 41st minute to cut the Bears’ lead to 3-2, then Ethan Olari scored his 11th goal of the season to tie it 3-3 in the 43rd minute.

Within the next minute, however, Flores came swooping in to untie the game and give Bradshaw Mountain a 4-3 advantage in a contest they never actually trailed.

“Coming out today, team spirits were high. We came out and played a really strong game, getting up 3-1,” Flores said. “I don’t know what happened in the second half, giving up two easy goals in the first 5 minutes. But, we came back and we were the better team tonight.”

Smith, feeling ill for much of the game, said it was good to see all the scoring from the Bears.

“It’s a lot of goals from my teammates and me. Very proud. I think we can make it to the playoffs easily and go far,” Smith said.

Rice mirrored his players thoughts, applauding their ability to ignore Paradise Honors’ come-from-behind efforts.

“You’re going in 3-1 thinking you have the advantage and the momentum, especially scoring that third goal pretty close to the end of the first half,” Rice said. “You can’t come out [in the second half] like that, even if you have the advantage. You can’t allow [quick] goals like that. I applaud these kids bouncing back. They didn’t let it affect them. It will be something we’ll talk about and fine tune it.”

UP NEXT

Paradise Honors (2-4-1, 0-0 4A Skyline) is scheduled to participate in the Arizona Soccer Showcase over the winter break, Dec. 27-30. A first-round opponent has yet to be announced.

Bradshaw Mountain returns to action Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024, when they host Eastmark. Official start time is set for 5 p.m.

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.