No. 11 Nogales stunned No. 3 Vail Cienega 57-31 in the quarterfinal round of the boy's Division II state playoffs Thursday night to deny the Bobcats a return trip to the semifinal round.

Cienega (25-4) came within three points of making the state final last year and the Bobcats were primed for another state-championship run this year but Nogales (26-7) seemingly came out of nowhere to lay claim to the state's final four after completely missing the playoffs last year.  

Cienega kept things close in the first quarter but Nogales out-scored the Bobcats 10 to 5 in the second to take a 24-14 lead into the locker room. Senior standout Terrence Johnson scored eight points in the first half to keep Cienega in the game but the Bobcats had no answer for the playmaking abilities of junior guards Jose Estrada and Jesbre Valenzuela.

The duo combined for 26 points but their interior passing through the Cienega defense was equally devastating.

"I asked Jose to play smart and find the open man," said head coach Ricardo De La Riva. "He had a choice to drive and kick out or go inside. We obviously prefer inside and he's been playing like that all year."

6-foot-4 Adalberto Diaz and 6-3 Alberto Maldonado were the recipients of the no-look and behind-the-back passes and they also combined for 26 points with most of them of the uncontested point-blank variety.

"We practice those plays all the time," added Estrada. "We played with a lot of heart and got the most of what we could."

Cienega defeated Nogales 65-51 in the sectional tournament two weeks ago but four players scored in double figures to pace the Bobcats that night. That wasn't the case this time.

"They got every 50-50 ball and they played harder than we did," said senior Daren Biggs.

That was pretty much how Johnson summed up the loss but he also saw opportunities lost.  "We didn't play as focused as we should have," he said.

"We couldn't even catch the ball. Most of our turnovers were from dropped balls. It wasn't their defense, you can't shoot 3-26 on three-pointers. We just weren't focused."

Johnson finished with 13 points and he has narrowed his college options to basketball. As an All-State performer in both basketball and football, he had options to play both but he has removed football from his recruiting preference.

No. 10 Phoenix Arcadia came up with the upset of the night and took out No. 2 Tucson Cholla 68-55 in the other quarterfinal game so Nogales will play Arcadia Saturday for a shot at the D-II championship game.

All semifinal games will be streamed live on the NFHS Network at AZPrep365.com.