It's been Chris Bowling or Jacob Nicolds most of the season for Gilbert High. Wednesday afternoon it was Bowling's turn.

Bowling canned crucial threes and free throws in regulation and overtime powering Gilbert to a 51-44 victory over Mesa Mountain View in the Division I boys quarterfinals at Wells Fargo Arena. The victory ended a four-year drought in the quarterfinals for Gilbert, which lost previously in that round to Desert Vista, Pinnacle twice and Mountain View (last year).

Gilbert (19-7) moves on to the semifinals to face Sunnyslope, which upended four-time defending champ Corona del Sol, 61-53. Gilbert and Sunnyslope meet Friday at Grand Canyon University at 8 p.m. Mountain View (17-9) had its nine-game winning streak snappped as the Tigers were clutch at the end of regulation and dominated the overtime.

Bowling finished with a game-high 25 points -- 19 in the second half. He sent the game to overtime with a 3 with 1:33 left and put Gilbert up for good with another at the 3:30 mark of overtime. He added 6 of 6 free throws to conclude the extra stanza. Bowling was 6 of 11 from the field and made all nine of his free throws.

Mountain View got the balance coach Gary Ernst craves, but leading scorer Tommy Kuhse was limited to eight points due to terrific defense from Gilbert's Caden Towt and second-half foul trouble that idled Kuhse much of the third and half the fourth quarter. Kuhse made only 1 three -- that in the final three seconds. Zane Jowaiszas led Mountain View with 10 points, John Trendler had nine points aas did Jayton Brown off the Toros bench. it wasn't a good day for Mountain View offensively. The Toros shot 28 percent from the field (15 of 53).

In Gilbert's earlier win this season over Mountain View, Nicolds scored 25 while Bowling was limited to seven. Kuhse hit for 27 points for Mountain View in that game. Nicolds opened this year's playoffs for Gilbert with 38 points in an overtime win over Dobson.

BASHA 55, PINNACLE 35: The third-seeded Bears sent the No. 22 Pioneers packing with a 26-10 edge in the final period to reach the semifinals for the second time in school history. Basha (23-6) plays next on Friday (Feb. 26) at 6:15 p.m. at Grand Canyon University against the Mesa, a 60-53 winner over St. Mary's.

Antwan Ross-Jones, Terrell Brown and Devin Kirby paced Basha, combining for 40 points.  Ross-Jones had 19 points, Brown 11 and Kirby 10. Basha opened up a double-digit lead for the first time midway through the final quarter after taking a 29-25 lead to the fourth period. A parade to the free-throw line the final three minutes added to the deficit. Basha's only other appearance in a semifinal came in 2008 -- a loss to eventual champ Desert Vista.
Freshman Spencer Rattler led Pinnacle with 8 points and senior AJ Elliot had 7 for the Pioneers.

MESA 60, ST. MARY'S 53: The second-seeded Jackrabbits (24-4) gained control with a strong third period and advanced to the semifinals over the No. 10 Knights (17-12). 

Drew Hatch and Mark Hatch combined for 36 points -- evenly split - to pace the victory. Mark Hatch had 13 points in the second half and Drew Hatch tallied 12 of his after intermission. They accounted for 17 of Mesa's 22 third-quarter points. Both pitched in with two steals each and Mark Hatch handed out a team-high four assists.

St. Mary's led 37-30 early in the third period, but with standout Deshawn Wilson exiting in the period with four fouls Mesa took advantage. Wilso, who had 12 points at halftime, scored four points in the second half and silent in the final period  although he returned to play the entire final quarter.

DJ Henderson had a strong game for Mesa with 10 points and nine rebounds.