Deer Valley advanced to the second round of the 4A state tournament in a big way Tuesday night, defeating the Saguaro Sabercats 69-42.

The game wasn’t as close as the final score indicated, as the No. 2-seed Skyhawks (21-4, 8-0) immediately unleashed to great effect a dizzying amount of pressure on a No. 15-seed Saguaro squad (14-13, 6-4).

The Sabercats were routinely forced into three, four, sometimes five passes before reaching the safety of halfcourt. By the end of the first quarter, Deer Valley held a 26-9 lead.

That early defensive flurry was by design. Deer Valley Coach Jed Dunn said that his team’s depth afforded him the luxury of quick substitutions, something Saguaro couldn’t do.

“We wanted to play fast,” he said. “We knew they didn’t have a deep bench and we knew their best players were some big football kids. So we wanted to get those guys moving up and down.”

The Skyhawks were also boosted by some early offense from senior point guard Johnny Diaz, who had 19 points in the first half to Saguaro’s 23.

“I just came locked in, like from the time I woke up,” Diaz said. “I had a good workout before the game and I was feeling good the whole day.”

Dunn noted Diaz’s hot hand in practice and decided to draw up a play for him for the team’s first possession. Three points for Diaz.

Diaz ultimately outpaced everyone with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

Saguaro’s Hayden Hatten muscled his way through double-teams for 21 points, matching his regular-season average. 

Deer Valley's Brandon Savage was also a major factor, contributing 15 points and four rebounds.

In the final seconds of the third quarter, Diaz and Savage completed arguably the play of the night. Dribbling around the perimeter as the clock wound down, Diaz suddenly lobbed a spot-on pass to a cutting Savage for a surprise dunk. The home crowd erupted.

“I saw 'Big B,'" Diaz said, referring to Savage. “You can’t miss a 6-8 dude, so I just threw it up to the rim and I knew he was going to get it.”

But Deer Valley had plenty of other contributors, too, on Tuesday night. Jackson Leyba, a sophomore, lunged after a ball heading out of bounds, saved it and passed it through traffic for a layup from Savage. Senior Ethan Cashion uncorked an emphatic block at the rim.

“We play 11 or 12 kids,” Dunn said.  “It was actually like that last year, too. A lot of these kids played in the state championship last year and they have experience.”

In fact, with 11 seniors on the team, most of Deer Valley's squad competed well into last year's 5A playoff run before losing to Sunnyslope, 45-35, in the championship game.

Bryce Davis, the star big man on last season's team, wasn't able to cheer on the Skyhawks on Tuesday as he's currently playing for the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. But he had some advice for his old teammates.

"Focus on the small details of every game," Davis said. "I want the seniors to know to play every possession like it's your last, because it just might be."

Deer Valley has a quick turnaround for round two of the tournament. The Skyhawks will host No. 7-seed St. Mary’s (19-6, 8-2) at 7 p.m. Friday.