All of Casteel's solid play in building a nine-point halftime lead over Higley on Tuesday night disintegrated in less than a quarter.

Higley used the hot-shooting of Dev Roberts and a bevy of Casteel turnovers to flip the score in the third period and pull off a 63-53 triumph in a 5A San Tan Region game at Higley High.

Higley's victory ended a three-game losing streak. The streaky Knights improved to 13-5 overall and 2-2 in region. Prior to the brief losing streak they had reeled off 10 wins in a row. Casteel saw a streak of 10 consecutive power-ranking wins end and suffered its first region loss. The Colts are 10-6 overall, 2-1 in region.

Casteel used balanced scoring and won each quarter in the first half. But with two-and-half minutes gone in the third period, Higley began to dominate and did so to the finish. The Knights used an 11-0 run to nab its first lead since the first period, 35-32. They helped force 10 turnovers in the quarter. Roberts tallied 11 of of his game-high 23 points in the period. Three of his baskets were threes.

Casteel tied it at 35 at the 3:50 mark of the quarter, but a second 11-0 Higley run to close the quarter put the game away. Higley outscored Casteel, 23-7, in the third quarter. Casteel was not able to make an effective run at Higley in the final quarter.

Joining Roberts in double figures in scoring was backcourt mate Ya Ya Greer. Greer finished with 21 points - 10 in the first half and 11 in the second half. Ten players scored for Casteel led by Preston Grako with 12 and Aidan Schmidt with 10.

Casteel's next game is Thursday as the Colts host region-leader Gilbert (3-0). Higley won't play again until Jan. 25 when it plays host to Gilbert.

Higley's Jordan Irving (23) scores against Casteel on Tuesday night. (Azpreps365 photo)