The Scottsdale Christian Academy Eagles finally got their revenge a year after St. Johns defeated them in the state playoffs in an upset in the first round of the state tournament.

This year, the No. 4 seed Eagles faced the No. 9 seed Redskins in the semifinals for a chance to move on to play Alchesay High School in the state championship, coming out on top by a 44-35 margin.

Senior captain Kylie Hearn said her nerves had yet to kick in before the game, while head coach Bob Fredericks said the feeling during warmups was a “good nervousness, but not a tenseness,” and that his team was “excited to go.”

The Redskins took a small lead early in the game as the Eagles had trouble finding good looks and getting rebounds. But SCA quickly came back and started to have more productive movement off of the ball.

It was senior captain Payton Kolar who had the best advantage, with her 5-foot-10-inch height and the Redskins’ tallest player only measuring five foot eight inches.

"They were a little bit smaller than us," Kolar said, "so we knew we had an advantage posting up and using moves like that.”

Despite Kolar being the tallest on the court, St. Johns' defense did everything in its power not to allow her to get the ball, knowing that she is the Eagles’ top scorer, averaging 16 points per game.  It wasn’t until the second half when Kolar scored a majority of her points.

Kolar admitted that they felt some added pressure going into this game knowing it was the team they lost to last year in the postseason, but she didn’t let that affect her performance. Fredericks said he didn’t think about it.

The Eagles were able to keep their lead at halftime, 21-18.

Junior captain Jordan Mcdonald came up big for her team when they needed it. She made two 3-pointers in the game, including one late in the third quarter to reestablish the Eagles’ lead. 

The Eagles never gave up the lead after that shot by Mcdonald.

SCA was able to get out on the break late in the third and early in the fourth quarter, giving the Eagles an even bigger edge.

“I think getting out on the break on three or four possessions and scoring was probably the difference in the game," Fredericks said.

The Eagles had a six-point lead going into the fourth quarter and the Redskins came out with heavy pressure, putting them in a lot of foul trouble late in the game.

It was at this point when the Redskins were at their most aggressive that Kolar knew they had won.

At one point when Hearn was shooting an abundance of free throws Kolar told her, “We have 6 seconds left and we just made it further than anyone else in SCA girls basketball history.”

It's true. This is the first time that the SCA girls basketball team has made it to the state championship.

Fredericks told his team throughout the game to have patience, and the play will come. This may be his strategy in the championship game.

Either way, the Eagles will be celebrating, as both the boys and girls basketball teams made it to the finals, both led by Fredericks.