Midway through the season, Desert Vista junior Dylan Swindle said she and her teammates had something to prove this year. Considering Desert Vista's status as defending Open State Champions, her commentary was surprising, but she clarified Tuesday night.

"After losing players and coaches from last year, no one thought we had a chance this year to make it back," Swindle explained. "As the season progressed, we improved as a team and knew we still have something special, so we wanted to prove ourselves."

Desert Vista demonstrated its mettle and team depth once again, as the Thunder outlasted top seeded Hamilton, 57-53 in an overtime classic that had a little bit of everything.

Desert Vista gets a return trip to the state championship game and a rematch against Xavier, which beat Desert Vista 53-39 early in the season.

"We're definitely a different team than we were in the beginning of the season," Swindle said. "We're excited for the chance to play (Xavier) again and play on that big stage."

After enduring a turbulent off-season which included a head coaching change and some personell rebranding, Desert Vista demonstrated it can find different ways to win Tuesday night. The Thunder raced out to an early 11-2 lead before Hamilton fought back and took control.

Down but Not Out

By the end of the thid quarter, Desert Vista was reeling. Hamilton had built a 39-30 lead, and to make matters worse, foul trouble became an issue, as starters Trinity Jones, Aniyah Riddell and Shay Ijiwoye had picked up four fouls. 

Hamilton sophomores CJ Hinder (6-6) Taylor Sipfle (6-4) used their height to shut down the Thunder offense for much of the second and third quarters, while controlling the boards and getting high percentage shots inside. Hinder and Sipfle combined for 35 points, but Desert Vista wisely looked for outside shots in the fourth quarter and stormed back behind Eanae Dagons and Jones, who combined for four three-point field goals in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. Jones second 3-pointer of the quarter was followed by a steal and layup, and suddenly Desert Vista led 44-40. 

Hamilton fought back and eventually tied the game at 49, but by the end of regulation, Desert Vista's Ijiwoye, Riddell and Jones had all fouled out.

Digging Deep...Into the Bench

Down three starters heading into overtime, Desert Vista appeared to be at a disadvantage, but bench players came through for the Thunder. After Dagons hit her fifth 3-pointer of the game, Madison Brown banked in her own 3-point field goal. Saniya Jones eventually nailed down a free-throw that gave the Thunder a 57-53 lead with 6.9 seconds left and securing the win for Desert Vista. First year coach Erin O'Bryan was quick to point out her team's depth and its role not only Tuesday night, but the entire season.

"At the end of the day we have a full team," O'Bryan explained. We're one of the deepst teams out here, and even when our best player (Ijiwoye) had to go sit on the bench, we had people that stepped up and did their part."

By the Numbers

Dagons led Desert Vista with 15 points and Dylan Swindle added 10. Sipfle led Hamilton with 19 points. Besides Desert Vista hot shooting in the fourth quarter, it was missed free-throws that crippled Hamilton down the stretch, going 6-for-14 in the last nine minutes of regulation. in addition to repeating as state champs, Desert Vista is seeking its fourth girls basketball title Saturday evening against Xavier.