Gilbert High and Hamilton earned their way to the title game of the McClintock Holiday Shootout on Wednesday night with tight victories over Apollo and Ironwood, respectively.

Nikko Pentelute's three-point play with one second left lifted Gilbert past Apollo, 60-59. Hamilton outscored Ironwood, 17-6, in the third quarter to erase a halftime deficit in a 45-39 triumph over Ironwood at McClintock High.

Gilbert and Hamilton bring 14-2 records to Thursday's 7 p.m. championship game at Doc Zinke Gymnasium. Apollo and Ironwood square off at 5:30 for third place. Highland and McClintock meet at 2:30 p.m. for fifth place and Basha and Mesa High battle for the consolation title at 4 p.m. on the tourney's final day.

Gilbert trailed Apollo 32-14 at halftime and put itself back in the game by cutting the deficit in half (42-33) heading to the final period. Seniors Pentelute and Reed Shuey spearheaded the comeback. Both players were scoreless at halftime. They rebounded scoring 29 of the Tigers 46 second-half points. Pentelute finished with 16 points to lead Gilbert, Shuey added 13 and KJ Perry chipped in with 14 - 10 of his points in the second half.

It was an uphill battle all the way for Gilbert, which tied the game 3-3 in the first quarter and never led until the game's final basket. Gilbert trailed by 11 with seven minutes left in the game.

The Tigers tied it one other time (57-all) in the final 30 seconds on a Perry basket. Apollo standout Ahamed Mohamed's two free throws with eight seconds left put the Hawks up two, but Pentelute followed with the game winner. Apollo fired up a desperation shot at the buzzer to no avail.

Mohamed led all scorers with 23 points. Teammates Bobby Holcomb (11 points) and Joshon Person (10 points) joined Mohamed in double figures.

Hamilton's come-from behind victory was fueled in part by better defense in the second half. Hamilton helped force 10 Ironwood turnovers after intermission. Ironwood wasn't bashful about putting up threes against Hamilton's zone, but did not fare well. The Eagles connected on 4 of 23 threes. Hamilton staunchly protected its 28-21 lead after three periods. Ironwood never pulled closer than five in the final quarter.

Five Huskies scored between seven and 10 points and only one finished in double digits. Daimon Denning (10), Qunicy Adams (9), Kokea Makaila (8) and Jalen Lee and Michael DeHorney (7 apiece) had all but three of the team's points. Ironwood's Julius Williams notched a game-high 16 points - 10 in the fourth quarter.

 

Apollo's Bobby Holcomb puts up a shot defended by Gilbert's Shade Kerr in a Wednesday semifinal (Azpreps365 photo)