Austin Green is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism graduate student assigned to cover Sandra Day O'Connor for AZPreps365.com

PHOENIX – Despite falling behind 10-0 midway through the first quarter and 16-6 early in the second on Tuesday, Sandra Day O’Connor High School rallied to beat archrival Mountain Ridge High School 37-34 on senior night thanks to an aggressive defense that kept the Eagles in the game amid an abysmal shooting performance.

“That embodies who we are, man,” O’Connor head coach Danny Soliman said. “They don't quit. They fight every single time. I love this group, they never, ever back down and they're always ready to go to war.”

The victory clinched the 6A Desert Valley region championship for O’Connor and marked the Eagles’ second win of the season over their rivals. Mountain Ridge finishes the regular season 22-3 overall and 7-3 in region play, but two of those losses have now come against O’Connor (17-5, 9-1). In their first matchup on Jan. 21, the Eagles also came back to defeat the Mountain Lions in a quadruple-overtime thriller.

Tuesday’s game did not take as long to decide but provided just as much intensity. Both teams struggled to score throughout the game. Mountain Ridge refused to let O’Connor’s shooters get into any sort of rhythm thanks to some stifling perimeter defense, but on the other end, the Eagles swarmed the ball to force several turnovers in the second half, keeping them within striking distance until some of their shots finally went down.

“We’ve got dogs,” Soliman said. “We just continue to fight, one possession at a time.”

Just like in January, the fierce rivalry contest went down to the wire in front of a raucous and nearly full-capacity crowd. Eagle senior point guard Leyah Gewargis had a chance to essentially seal the victory at the free-throw line with 43 seconds remaining, but missed the shot that would have put O'Connor up four. Mountain Ridge’s Janae Floyd snared the rebound and hit teammate Melody Gonzales streaking ahead of her defender for an easy layup to cut O’Connor’s lead to one. With :14 left, Soliman called a timeout and drew up a play–but also told his team to take what the defense would give them.

“I told them if [Mountain Ridge] brought everybody up, we’re throwing the deep pass,” Soliman said.

When Mountain Ridge did show a press defense, O'Connor junior forward Katy Frost did just that. As senior forward Lana Croker broke towards the opposite hoop, Frost lobbed a perfect full-court pass which Croker caught in stride, laying the ball up with less than 10 seconds remaining to put the Eagles back up by three. 

“[The play design] was actually meant for another player, but I saw my opportunity and I kind of just went for it,” Croker said. “We've done it before, so I knew we could do it again.”

A desperate Mountain Ridge shot rimmed out, the buzzer sounded and O’Connor’s entire team swarmed center court to celebrate as the home crowd roared behind them.

Such a joyous scene appeared unlikely early in the game. O’Connor did not score until senior guard Maya Cobb made a free throw with 2:42 remaining in the first quarter. The Eagles did not make a basket from the field until a layup from junior forward Alyssa Casanova with :53 left in the opening period. 

But O’Connor slowly erased Mountain Ridge’s lead and finally broke through in the fourth quarter when Gewargis – the Eagles’ floor general and leading scorer on the season – nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Eagles the lead for good.  

“Our shots weren’t falling, and my shots obviously weren’t falling, so [we focused on] just staying together, staying composed,” Gewargis said. “I just kept staying optimistic and eventually knew one was gonna fall.”

Gewargis finished with just five points on the night, but did enough to help her team pull out the win. Casanova finished with a team-high 10 points while Croker had eight – all in the second half.

(Photo by Austin Green/AZPreps365)Earlier in the evening, Gewargis, Croker and Cobb were joined by forwards Tia Henry and Isabelle Knopik as the Eagles’ five graduating seniors were honored before their final regular-season home game. An emotional Soliman stood at center court, telling the crowd that those five players made up one of the most special groups he has coached.

Hours later, Soliman stood on the court again, beaming as every member of his team, adorned in “Region Champions” T-shirts over their jerseys, climbed up a ladder to cut down the net in celebration.

“It’s the perfect ride off,” Soliman said. “They deserve it. They bought [into] everything this culture is about here. That's why I wanted it so bad for them.”

O’Connor and Mountain Ridge could see each other again. Both teams easily qualified for the 6A playoffs, which tips off on Saturday. The 6A bracket was not yet released as of this writing.