Friday’s state semifinal winners at Jobing.com Arena were in a rush to get to Saturday’s state basketball championships at the same location.

That's because the closest margin of victory in the four games was 14 points, highlighted by Valley Christian sending both its teams to the finals. The Valley Christian girls beat Window Rock 53-40, and the boys defeated Yuma Catholic 70-51.

Fountain Hills and Cortez also gave their fans a lot to cheer for with their victories over Estrella Foothills and Show Low, respectively. Veteran Valley Christian coaches Greg Haagsma and Scott Timmer have known each other since 1991.

“To be in the state finals with him (Haagsma) is an honor,” said Timmer, Valley Christian’s girls coach.

Timmer’s team is young, and the nerves got the best of his team at the start of Friday’s semifinal game.

But Valley Christian’s offense also struggled because of Window Rock’s defense. Window Rock was up 17-14 in the second quarter, but that’s when Valley Christian took over with a 10-0 run to close the second quarter.

Window Rock trailed by four at the start of the fourth quarter, but Valley Christian eventually pulled way. Ashley Koch scored 18 points, Bethany Wolph had 13, and Alyssa Braun grabbed 10 rebounds for Valley Christian, wich is 33-0.

The Valley Christian boys also struggled at the start, partly because of Yuma Catholic’s sagging man defense. But once it started to convert back-to-back baskets and figuring out Yuma Catholic’s defense, Valley Christian never looked back.

“Once we started moving offensively, everything started coming together,” Haagsma said.

Zach Wolf, T.J. Widner, Brandon Haagsma, and Mitchell Timmer each scored in double figures for Valley Christian, which shot 51.8 percent from the field.

In the Division III boys final, Valley Christian will play a familiar foe, Cortez, which split its two games with Valley Christian this season.

Cortez ran away from Show Low in the first half, grabbing a 41-15 lead by halftime and ending with a 67-39 win. Cortez head coach Tarik James graduated from Cortez in 1992 and has brought stability since taking over his alma mater.

On Friday, Cortez had eight different players score in the first half, continuing the unselfish theme of the team’s season.

“We can run with anybody in the state,” James said.

In the regular season, the Valley Christian girls went 2-0 against Fountain Hills (24-3), Valley Christian’s Division III state championship opponent.

Fountain Hills center Natalie Stillwell scored 25 points and tallied 13 rebounds during her team’s 63-49 state semifinal victory. Stillwell’s teammate, Sierra Jarriel, scored 18 points and had a team-high six assists.