Don’t tell me that it was just a sectional tournament, that the games don’t mean anything to these basketball players.

All you had to do is look at the energy expended by the Division II, Section III boys semifinalists on Friday night (Feb. 8).

Whether it’s a state tournament or a sectional, these guys want to win.

Familiar foes Phoenix Sunnyslope and Phoenix Shadow Mountain will meet for the section title on Saturday night (Feb. 9) at 7:30 at Scottsdale Coronado.

Second-seeded Sunnyslope advanced with a stunning 54-51 victory in triple overtime over No. 3 Phoenix Paradise Valley. No. 4 Shadow Mountain played one of its finest all-around games of the season with a 98-87 triumph over top-seeded Phoenix Sierra Linda in the second game.

Wow.

It appeared Sunnyslope and Paradise Valley were headed for a fourth OT. There was a scramble for the ball near the Sunnyslope bench as the final seconds of the third OT ticked away. The horn sounded, but the officials ruled that Sunnyslope had gained possession and called timeout.

0.9 seconds were put back on the clock.

Just as Illinois had stunned top-ranked Indiana the night before with the same amount of time remaining, it was enough for Sunnyslope.

Ari Stern inbounded the ball to long-range marksman Isaiah Cota, who caught the ball behind the 3-point arc and fired away.

Swish !!

The Sunnyslope bench and the Vikings’ fans went bonkers.

“Our coach (Ray Portela) drew up about five different plays during the timeout. I got open, I got the ball and shot. When I let it go, I knew it was going in,’’ said Cota, who had four treys in the game, including two in the second OT. He finished with 18 points.

“I was struggling with my shooting early in the game. When I hit that first one (in the second OT), I thought, “All right, I can do this. I need to help my team out.’ In that last time, to be honest, I just wanted the game to be over. We wanted to get out of here with a win.’’

Navareio Holmes scored 16 for Sunnyslope (25-3) and David Miller had 10. Paradise Valley (22-7) got 20 points from Paul Watson and 18 from Ryan Finley.

Now Sunnyslope meets Shadow Mountain. Sunnyslope won both regular season meetings by a combined total of six points.

“They (Sunnyslope) play some of the best man-to-man defense I have seen,’’ said Shadow Mountain coach Cain Jagodzinski. “It will be another tough game.’’

J.J. Rhymes and Keegan Hansen each scored 26 points for Shadow Mountain (24-5), which handed Sierra Linda only its second loss of the season in 28 games. Carlos Johnson had 18 points and Chris Williams had 13.

The teams raced up and down the court at a breakneck pace. Shadow Mountain showed that it can play any style of game.

“We knew it was going to be 32 minutes of pressure from them (Sierra Linda) and the key for us would be to not turn the ball over much and we did a pretty good job of that,’’ Jagodzinski said. “Our free-throw shooting was better, too. We played team basketball.’’

Edgar Sarmiento led Sierra Linda with 25 points. Alashan Turay and Damien Mendoza each scored 21.

All four semifinalists earned automatic spots in the state tournament that begins next week. The brackets will be announced on Sunday afternoon from 1-3 p.m. at a “Bracket Show’’ hosted by the AIA on AIA365.com.