Jordan Augustine asked his district athletic director if he could take Tuesday off.

“What ever you need coach,” Mark Ernster answered as Augustine's team celebrated.

Ironwood High might as well also throw coach Augustine and his team a parade after what they accomplished Monday night.

Ironwood returned home from Desert Financial Arena with a basketball gold trophy, the first one for boys in the school’s 34-year history. It did so after hitting some big shots in Ironwood’s 78-70 5A Conference championship victory over No. 1 seed Millennium.

Augustine is a student of the game and also became a mentor to a cohesive unit that moved the ball very well. It helps when there are four talented guards who are each 6-3 or 6-4 on the floor. 

Trent Hudgens, Dominic Gonzalez, Bailon Black and J.J. White each scored between 16 and 18 points and accounted for 68 of their team’s 78 points in the final.

“Man, this means everthying to me,” said Gonzalez, the team’s well-respected captain and school’s all-time points leader. “We’ve been working so hard. I’ve been waiting for four years for this opportunity. Man, I’m at a loss for words.”

Ironwood never trailed in the game after 1:40 remained in the first quarter and led by as much as 12 point (52-40) in the third quarter.

But Millennium made some big plays of its own to get back in the game. Senior Robby Devries hit three threes when his team needed them the most.

His second three pulled his team within two points, 64-62, of tying the game with 4:31 remaining. Ironwood set a new 5A regular season state mark for threes made in a season in 2019-20, and its last trey of the game was its biggest of the season.

With 4:13 left, right after Devrie’s second trey, Hudgens swished a three, the only one he attempted in the game. Hudgens picked up his fourth foul just before the third period ended but Augustine kept him in the game.

The move paid off. Hudgens opened the fourth quarter with a floater in the lane after a Devries basket.

But Devries wasn’t done.

His final three, with the clock showing 2:19, left his team trailing 70-66. But Ironwood’s (21 for 25 from the free throw line) free throws and Millennium’s turnovers in the final seconds clinched the victory for Ironwood in front a good crowd.

The lower bowl of Arizona State’s Desert Financial Arena was almost full, with ASU men’s basketball coach Bobby Hurley sitting in the front row.

Millennium (24-6), a state runner-up last year, jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first minutes of the game.

But Ironwood then started to assert itself. In the first half, No. 2 Ironwood (24-6) scored 16 points off turnovers and tallied 10 of its 15 steals in the game against the tournament’s top-seeded team.

Like Ironwood, four of Millennium’s players scored in double figures, including Justice Marmara (14 points), Justus Jackson (14 points) and Devries (11 points). Junior DaRon Holmes, the 6-9 versatile low post player and arguably the best player in the state this season, scored 17 points and had five blocks.

Last year, Ironwood lost to Millennium by one point in the state quarterfinals.

Last year, Augustine also lost one of his best friends, a former assistant who committed suicide. Augustine mentioned to the media about the personal loss after Monday’s game.

After the game, Augustine also celebrated with his wife, Alex, and two daughters on the court.

Ironwood coach Jordan Augustine celebrates with his family. Photo by Jose Garcia/azpreps365.com.

“My family sacrificed a lot for us to be in this moment, so for them to come on the court and and enjoy this with us it’s tremendous,” Augutine said. “I couldn’t imagine doing this with any other group of players. They sacrificed a lot also. God is good. There are things that have happened to us this year and in the past that honestly I don’t deserve. But these guys made big time shots tonight.”

Augustine is one of the up-and-coming young coaches in the state.

He spends countless hours studying the game of basketball, Alex said. It paid off, as No. 2 seed Ironwood (28-2) ended its season with an 18-game win streak. 

“It (title) means all of his work means something,” Alex said.