St. Mary’s is state basketball royalty, but the 17-12 Knights took their share of punches this season.

The Deer Valley Skyhawks are filled with boxing-like journeymen who fight to the very end regardless of the opponent’s size.

But after 32 minutes of regulation and a four minute overtime period Thursday night, St. Mary’s was the last team standing this season in the 4A Conference. The Knights used Cameron Williams’s reach to help outpoint Deer Valley, 59-55, in their title bout at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Williams used his long and lean 6-11 frame to score 30 points, grab 11 rebounds and block three shots—two in overtime—while playing all 36 minutes.

“It was really stressful,” said the soft spoken Williams. “I felt it shouldn’t have been that close. But I feel like it showed our toughness, how we came together and the camaraderie on our team.”

The Knights had three opportunities to end the game in regulation but missed a three and two put back tries to send the matchup to OT.

St. Mary’s went ahead 54-50 in OT after a Caspian Jones bucket. But Deer Valley, as it has throughout the season and during coach Jed Dunn’s 17-year tenure, counterpunched its way back to take the lead one final time.

One of Deer Valley’s warriors, Sergio Gonzales (team-high 21 points, 4 steals), pumped fake before draining an open three after a defender went by. Teammate Elias Riley then gave his fans something else to cheer for, an and-1 attempt.

The Skyhawks were up 55-54 at that point with 45.1 remaining. The only other times Deer Valley led in the game was at 19-18, 23-22 and 48-47.

But Williams answered Deer Valley’s and-1 with an and-1 of his own, allowing St. Mary’s own strong contingency of fans to jump off their seats. A Williams free throw and two more by Brody Postorino capped the scoring.

The second leading scorer for St. Mary’s, Jones, got into foul trouble, but starting guard AJ Muandumba (12) made some big shots, including a couple of rainbow threes in the third. Arteus Jefferson (10 rebounds), Jones (11 rebounds) and Williams helped St. Mary’s outrebound Deer Valley 47-28.

The 4A defending champ Skyhawks were undersized but quick and found ways to reach the title game for the third consecutive season and finish with a 24-6 record.

“They are feisty,” said Dunn of his squad, which helped cause some of St. Mary’s 20 turnovers. “I’m proud of them.”

Deer Valley made its sixth state title appearance Thursday. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)

St. Mary’s also was resilient.

The team didn’t have its full rotation until after the midway point of the season for different reasons. Some players also were placed in leadership roles for the first time.

But throughout the season, coach Damin Lopez, the former sharpshooting great from Apollo High, said he made sure his team kept its focus on defense and rebounding, key ingredients that help win championships. The Knights wound up putting everything together at the right time to bring home the program’s fifth title.

“It’s not how you start,” Lopez said. “It’s how you finish. And we preach that in the program. We might look a little ugly at first. But toward the end of the year, that’s when we are ready to roll.”

Some of St. Mary's fans congratulated the squad after its Thursday championship victory at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)