The first time Chaparral played at Pinnacle, the Firebirds came back to win in overtime. The sequel is never as good as the original, right?

The Pioneers found themselves down eight nearing halftime when sophomore guard Sydney Murphey blocked a shot. The block led to points and Pinnacle rode that momentum into the second half.

Chaparral’s Jess Kinney pushed the game into overtime with a three-point buzzer-beater but the Pioneers outscored the Firebirds 11-2 in overtime for a 62-53 victory.

Sophomore guard Ally Stedman scored eight of her 20 points overtime.

“It took me a while to warm up,” she said with a smile.

Coming into this game, both teams were white hot. Collectively, they had won 14 consecutive games and had an average margin of victory of over 12 points.

“Coming into this game we definitely had a chip on our shoulders,” said senior Shaila Mays.

Chaparral is the only team to win at Pinnacle.

“We wanted to get that win,” Mays said. "Our last loss was our motivation."

The starters played with motivation. Four totaled at least 12 points.

“I knew it was going to be an intense game,” said senior Bryn Parker.

Parker and Stedman combined for 78 points in both games.

“We like to go hard,” Stedman said.

The X factor for the top-ranked Pioneers (23-3) was 6’6” freshman Kennedy Basham. She leads the 6A conference in double-doubles but had missed the previous matchup due to injury.

Bunger was glad to have her back. “She changes a lot of shots,” he said. Basham now has nine consecutive starts with at least 10 points.

The Pioneers changed up their strategy for the Firebirds. Bunger wanted his players to jump “out on the shooter to push them further out.”

This strategy paid off as Chaparral’s points-per-minute declined from the second quarter onward.

Where does this victory rank? “It’s the biggest one to date,” said Bunger

The Pioneers play their last game at home Tuesday against Boulder Creek..