Lapses in taking care of the ball and the omnipresent Mountain Pointe Lane Ranger Zereoue Williams were playoff-eliminating factors Thursday night for #7 Hamilton.

Early first-half turnovers and intervals of the same in third and fourth quarters spelled doom as #6 Mountain Pointe made reservations to the 6A state title game with a 52-49 semifinal victory at Mountain Pointe.

Mountain Pointe (15-5) plays for the championship for the second year in a row and third time in four years. The Pride will face #1 Sunnyslope on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Mesquite High School. Sunnyslope advanced defeating #4 Brophy, 74-67. Hamilton (12-7) was bidding for its first-ever title game appearance.

Williams, a 6-foot-8 senior headed to play offensive tackle in football this fall at Utah, has made a mark in basketball as part of now two title-game teams. It matters little for the most part how much he scores, but this night he produced 13 points, an unofficial eight blocked shots and changed many others he didn't get a hand on.

"He's the best defensive player in the state," Mountain Pointe coach Kaimarr Price said. "Best at any level I've coached. He allows our guards to pressure more than most. We get turnovers and some easy baskets off those."

Mountain Pointe led by as many as nine points (first quarter) and Hamilton bounced back for an eight-point lead at one point in the third. The teams entered the final quarter tied at 37.

Both led for portions of the final quarter, but no lead was larger than three. Hamilton's last lead was 45-42 with 4:12 left with junior Aaron Foote scoring four of his team-high 13 points in short order in the quarter. Back-to-back turnovers almost a minute apart led to two Mountain Pointe layups - one each by Mark Brown directly off his steal and the other by Aiden Price off a Williams steal. Those gave the Pride the lead for good, 46-45. Hamilton's next possession ended with Williams blocking a shot for the final time in the game and leading to another Aiden Price layup with 1:52 to go.

Hamilton's Kokea Makaila and Williams (off a nice assist from Tru Washington) traded layups keeping Mountain Pointe's lead at three, 50-47 with 1:18 left. The Huskies Jalen Lee sank two free throws cutting the deficit back to one with 58 seconds left.

Washington, who led Mountain Pointe with 14 points, made plays at both ends in the final minute. He made both ends of a one-and-one with 51 seconds left and nabbed a late steal that might have sealed the outcome. Hamilton did regain possession for a final shot with 23 seconds left.

The Huskies ran the clock down, but Galindo was not able to find perimeter threats Foote and Andrew Hinkle open. He fired up a desperation three from about 25 feet that dipped in and out as the buzzer sounded.

Mountain Pointe took advantage of a break over the final couple minutes of the third quarter when it fell behind by eight. Hamilton floor leader Adrian Galindo limped off the floor with a tender ankle that needed a rewrap. Galindo sat out the rest of the quarter and Mountain Pointe's 8-0 run to end the quarter evened the score at 37. Galindo finished with 11 points, but only two in the second half.

"Losing Adrian for those couple minutes was huge," Hamilton coach Doug Harris said. "It was a big momentum swing. In the end we didn't take care of the ball. They got a lot of points and layups off our turnovers. I tip my hat to them. They're tough to play and beat."