Dominic Rivera is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Peoria High School for AZPreps365.com

Although the box score would suggest dominant defensive play, it was Peoria’s offense that was too much for St. Mary’s Tuesday.

With a raucous sold-out crowd of over 1,000 fans, the Panthers got off to an early 20-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back in an 85-59 victory that sent them into the 4A state championship.

Peoria came out the gates strong scoring 15 unanswered points. A couple of steals in transition also set the tone on defense.

“The stellar defense is what gets us going,” coach Patrick Battillo said. “Obviously the ball movement was phenomenal today and the scoring was shared all around. We were hitting our shots but they were great looks, we just did our jobs.”

The Panthers defense let up in the second quarter but the offense remained hot and stretched the lead to 42-24 after multiple three-point shots from senior guard Isaac Monroe to start the third quarter.

“I just read the defense,” said Monroe. “They were not hedging the ball screen hard, so it gave me room to shoot.”

St. Mary’s made a small comeback late in the third but the late game charge came to a screeching halt as the guard trio of Monroe, junior Corey Perry and senior Deandre Petty put the game away.

“We looked at each other in the eye before the game and said, ‘We are not losing,’” said Petty. “I told him (Monroe) I got his back and he told me he’s got mine. There was no doubt in our minds that we were going out like that.”

Monroe shared the same thoughts.

“We both knew this could be our last game,” Monroe said. “So we were a different type of locked in. And we kept talking to each other saying ‘this is our game’.”

The starting lineup accounted for all the 85 points scored by the Panthers. Petty finished with 15 points, Monroe with 17 and Perry with 19.

The Panthers take on the No. 2 seed Salpointe Catholic in the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum Saturday at noon.