Valley Vista brought a bus load of believers to its girls basketball showdown with Hamilton Thursday night. That's a 60-mile trip, one-way on a school night. That vocal contingent was rewarded for its loyalty and had something to talk about on the way back to Surprise.

Kiara Edwards banked in a three with 44 seconds left and Taylor Chavez added two free throws with 26 seconds left to give No. 3 Valley Vista a 51-48 victory over No. 1 Hamilton in a ferocious Division I battle of top teams at Hamilton.

Edwards, a 6-foot-1 junior forward, calmly pulled up for and connected on the only three Valley Vista made in the game for a 49-48 lead.  The shot was just right of the top of the key and seemed out of Edwards range. Didn't matter. It went in.

Hamilton took the lead 10 seconds earlier on two free throws by Payton Whitmore that broke the final tie of the night. Edwards scored six of her game-high 18 points in the fourth period and made all three of her shots in the period. The teams were tied at 32 entering the final period and there were 10 lead changes and four ties in the final period.

Valley Vista rebounded a Hamilton miss with 30 seconds left to keep the lead and Chavez ended up getting fouled. She sank both free throws for her 16th and 17th points of the night to extend the advantage to 51-48. All that was left -- as it turned out -- was to withstand two Hamilton chances to tie over the final 19 seconds.  The Monsoon did as Hamilton's Makayla Filiere was short with a three with five seconds left. Hamilton regained possession after a scramble for the rebound and called its final timeout with 2.9 seconds to get one final crack at tie.

Hamilton got the ball to leading scorer Maddi Frederick, but her shot was a couple feet inside the arc and did not connect. That sent Valley Vista's team streaming to the court and ultimately its healthy cheering section to repeat over and over -- VALLEY, VALLEY,  VALLEY.  Valley Vista coach Rachel Matakas was  inspired and was among those leading the victory chant.

"It's simple," Matakas said. "We play like a team, and we have chemistry. I'm just out here to facilitate. Kierra has done the work to stretch her game. She and Taylor supply the leadership. Everyone else  follows and plays their role."

Valley Vista and Hamilton reached the D-I quarterfinals at state last year losing to Millennium and Dobson, respectively. Those teams went on to play in the title game. Both have most of their team intact from last year and have played accordingly. Valley Vista is now 20-5 overall and 15-1 in power-ranking games. Hamilton is 19-3, 13-1.

"It was a great game," Hamilton coach Trevor Neider said. "I thought we played tight, and at times passed up shots we normally take. We didn't shoot well (18 percent in the first half).  Still we were only down four at half and felt good about being that close. The fourth quarter had some clutch plays by both sides."

Filiere led Hamilton with 12 points adn Maya Banks added 11 points. Frederick was limited to eight points and did not score in the first half.