Third quarter run propels Hamilton girls to 6A final

February 21, 2019 by Jose Garcia, AZPreps365


Pinnacle's Trent Brown (No 24), Nico Mannion (No. 1) and Tosh Baker listen to their coach, Charlie Wilde, during a timeout in Thursday's 6A state semifinal. Photo by Jose Garcia/azpreps365.com.

Hamilton pressured its way to the state championship game.

It tightened its defense and picked up the pace after a so-so first half in Thursday’s 6A Conference semifinal against Pinnacle at Wells Fargo Arena. The result was a 50-43 victory to clinch a final’s berth, where Hamilton will play Xavier for the third time this season.

“Pressure and just playing faster,” said Hamilton girl’s basketball coach Trevor Neider about what changed after halftime with his team. “That’s been our game. We were too slow and trying to think a little bit instead of just playing and going and using our athleticism.”

Junior point guard Victoria Davis also emerged out of halftime a different player.

She and her team took control in the third, as Hamilton ran isolation plays for Davis, who scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the third quarter. Hamilton outscored Pinnacle 18-2 in that quarter.

(Hamilton's Victoria Davis is interviewed after Thursday's state semifinal victory. Photo by Jose Garcia/azpreps365.com)

Hamilton led 14-5 after the first quarter, but Pinnacle is too talented to stay behind. By halftime, Hamilton trailed 21-18.

“I came into the locker room and I prayed,” Davis said. “I said, ‘I’m not losing this game.’ Thank you God for giving me the talent to come out here and get the (win).”

Davis also led her team with nine rebounds in 28 minutes.

Hamilton made it a point to keep Pinnacle’s tall post player, freshman Kenndy Basham, off the glass in the second half.

“We had to box out for sure, because we were getting outworked,” David said. “After we started boxing out and getting the big (Basham), it was over. We knew we could play our game, and we did.”

Basham finished with 10 boards, 13 points and five blocks.

Guard Bryn Parker led Pinnacle in rebounds with 12, and teammate Ally Stedman, a sophomore, had 15 points. Nine of Pinnacle’s players are either freshmen or sophomores, so expect more playoff runs from the team in the future.

In Tuesday’s 6A finale, it will be an all Premier Region encounter when the top two seeds in the playoffs meet. No. 1 Hamilton (25-5) split its two games versus No. 2 Xavier this season. 

“It’ll be tough,” said Neider about the matchup. “They are very well coached and play hard. They rotate and they do a lot of great things. It will be fun. It will be a good matchup. They are a great team, and we are excited to be there.”

Pinnacle to defend title

Pinnacle is returning to the 6A Conference championship and so is Nico Mannion, who’ll play his final high school game on Tuesday at Wells Fargo Arena.

The reclassified senior is hard to stop. Just ask Perry, the opponent Pinnacle defeated 79-69 during Thursday’s 6A boy’s basketball semifinal at Wells Fargo.

Mannion’s stat line: 42 points, 18 of 22 from the line, 11 of 23 from the field, six boards, six assists, 31 minutes. A regular night at the office for one of the best players to ever suit up in an Arizona high school uniform.

Give Perry credit for making a game of it, though, considering it was down 21-11 after the first quarter. Perry stuck around, trailing by at least six points, but that’s as close as it got.

Perry had three players score in double figures, Kyle Patterson (11 boards), Dylan Anderson (15 points) and Jalen Williams, who, despite a slow start, finished with 23 points.

Pinnacle’s Trent Brown is the best outside shooter in the state and made four threes on his way to 20 points Thursday. In Tuesday’s final, Pinnacle will play region foe Chaparral for the third time this season.

Pinnacle won both games but needed a Mannion special, a game-ending buzzer beater, to defeat Chaparral in their last game.