By Miranda Tomlinson 

It was a high school thriller on Senior Night for Moon Valley.

Senior Kira Ciolino made the game-winning layup with just four seconds left in the game to defeat St. Mary’s 35-33.

Fans in the packed Moon Valley gym rushed the court to celebrate the last-second win. Ciolino said that this was a ‘must-win’ game for the Rockets, and that this moment meant a great deal to her.

“We might not go to the playoffs, and this is my senior year, so I don’t want to come out with only two games left,” Ciolino said. “So I was just like we have to go to the playoffs. We have to win.”

Ciolino and fellow seniors Dakota Ulibarri, Justine Mullings and Jessica Fajardo were honored prior to the start of the game alongside their families.

Starting in the second quarter and throughout the game, Ciolino showed strong leadership and accounted for 14 points. Before her game-winning shot, she tied the game with just a minute remaining.

Aside from this win being a big moment in Ciolino’s basketball career, it was also a huge win for Moon Valley and head coach Carlos Contreras.

“The girls are feeling well,” Contreras said. “It’s senior night, so what I told them pregame is let’s send the seniors out on a good note, and what a way to end it, a senior hitting a game winning shot. Kira Ciolino has stepped up for us all year long as we’ve battled injuries throughout the season. We’re all just feeling so great right now. Everyone’s excited and our emotions have been so high.”

With the Rockets trailing 33-26 with five minutes left in the game, Contreras had to fire the girls up with a few words in his final 30-second timeout.

He said that he told the girls not to get down on each other and that it was not the time to bicker.

“Now is the time to come together,” Contreras said. “I’ve always told them you’re never playing for anyone in the stands. You play for each other because that’s all they have is each other on the court.”

On the other bench, St. Mary’s head coach Liberty Brittain said there were several factors that led to the team’s last-second loss, including losing one of their starters early in the second half from fouling out.

 “I think we are just nervous. It was nerves that got the best of us,” Brittain said. “We are a young team, we’re getting a lot better and we’re gonna come back the rest of this week ready to play. The nerves won’t get the best of us on Wednesday and Friday.”

 Brittain also went on to say that the Knights’ struggles were mainly concentrated on the offensive side of their game.

“We gotta tighten up our offense, be more crisp, not make so many lazy passes,” she added. “Just not doing so many little things, which gives the defense an edge.”

Moon Valley improved to 14-11, which keeps them in the playoff hunt.  Meanwhile, St. Mary’s (10-10) will look to get back to its winning ways when it travels to Desert Edge on Wednesday. 

Miranda Tomlinson is a student at Arizona State University.