Two of the bigger upsets in this season’s state basketball tournaments were saved for the final games of Thursday’s quarterfinal action at Gila River Arena.

Thatcher, the No. 16 in the Division III boys state tournament, pulled off another miracle, defeating No. 8 seed Valley Christian thanks to a buzzer beater, and the Tuba City girls upset previously unbeaten Valley Christian, the No. 1 seed in the D-III tournament.

Thatcher isn’t playing like a No. 16 seed since it defeated No. 1 seed Blue Ridge in the second round, playing just as well as Valley Christian did Thursday during its final second 61-59 victory. Valley Christian had the ball with a chance to win the game at the end but turned it over to Dallin Cook, who dribbled down the court with a man on him before passing the ball to Thatcher’s hero, Mason Mortensen.

Mortensen, a guard, hadn’t scored a point until his buzzer beater off Cook’s assist from close range.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Mortensen after the game. “We got a steal, and I got lucky today.”

Thatcher will face another hot playoff team, Combs, in Friday’s 8 p.m. semifinal game at Gila River Arena.

Thatcher scored 46 points in the paint, with forwards Jared Jorgensen (16 points, 12 rebounds) and Jeff Shumway (19 points) leading the way. Valley Christian had three players score in double figures, Mitchell Timmer, Matthew Svorinic and Alijah Gammage, who had an excellent fourth period.

But Valley Christian couldn’t hold on in the end. The same goes for the girls of Valley Christian, which for the second consecutive year saw an undefeated season end in the playoffs.

Tuba City trailed throughout the majority of the game until it finally caught up with 5:42 remaining, knotting the score at 32. Tuba City then started to convert from the free throw line to grab an 11 point lead before Valley Christian made a couple of three pointers.

Valley Christian was one of the nation’s leaders in threes this season but only went 4 of 25 from beyond the arc against Tuba city.

Tuba City will play Safford, the No. 4 seed, in Friday’s semifinals.

“At halftime I told them we have seven seniors on the team, and (Valley Christian) only has one,” Tuba City coach Kim Williams said. “The difference is that I had these (seniors) for three years and now was our time.”

The pressure defense of Williams’ team forced several turnovers and collected 21 steals.

Combs vs. Estrella Foothills

Combs extended its win streak to 26 games behind Carter Aby’s 29 points in the 56-34 Division III boys state quarterfinal victory over Estrella Foothills at Gila River Arena.

Carter, a 6-feet-7 senior forward, also tallied a game-high 16 rebounds in 27 minutes. Combs (28-4) advanced to Friday’s state semifinals for the first time, where it will face Thatcher.

Palo Verde vs. Chinle

Palo Verde missed 11 free throws in the fourth period of its state D-III quarterfinal game against gritty Chinle but hit its shots down the stretch to pull away and win 52-43.

Chinle rallied from a 32-24 third period deficit, taking a 35-34 lead into the final period. But guard Marcos Salcido (15 points) hit a couple of big three pointers to kill Chinle’s momentum.

Chinle only made four of the 19 threes it attempted in the game. Chinle forward Sooner Brady had 11 points and 11 boards, the same amount of rebounds Palo Verde’s Dee Mari Young had.

Danny Hunt scored 14 for Palo Verde, which will face Snowflake in Friday’s semifinals.

Snowflake vs. Cortez

No. 7 seed Snowflake advanced to the D-III boys state semifinals with a 68-65 win over No. 2 seed Cortez despite trailing by 12 points in the second half.

Snowflake took it first lead in second half, 54-53, after a Jordan Gardner basket with 6:15 remaining in the game. But Cortez then scored nine answered points. But that didn’t deter Snowflake, as it closed the game with a 12-3 run.

Center Travis Flake (25 points, 10 rebounds) was 9 of 17 in 25 minutes for Snowflake. Cortez’s iron-man, Christian Hakilimali, played every minute, grabbing 21 rebounds and leading his team with 26 points.

Page vs. Holbrook

Page made 8 of 19 3-pointers and outrebounded Holbrook 47-20 in its 64-34 state Division III girls quarterfinal victory.

Guard Natasha Henry made five of those three pointers for a game-high 15 points Thursday. Page (33-1), the 2012 champ, is the No. 2 seed in the state tournament and will to play No. 3 seed Winslow Friday’s semifinals at Gila River Arena.

Page started to pull away from Holbrook in the second period when Henry and Ashley Dempsey each made two baskets to give their team a 27-13 lead.

Notes

Holly Hancock, Damareece Camarena and Crystal Hasse each scored in double figures to help No. 4 seed Safford defeat Pusch Ridge 47-37. … Winslow, the No. 3 seed, upended Thatcher 52-36 with the help of Shandiin Armao (20 points, 8 rebounds) and Kaelyn Bitsoi (14 points, 9 rebounds).