Kyli Crooms pointed to his left ring finger as the final seconds ticked down.

The San Tan Charter coach and his crew will soon hit a jeweler for some championship bling. They earned the right to do so Saturday after defeating the benchmark of Arizona small school basketball, Valley Christian, 53-43 for the 2026 Copper crown.

The first piece of hardware Crooms and his team collected was the Copper trophy at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The duel between Valley Christian and San Tan Charter was two years in the making. 

They were on a collision course last year, but San Tan Charter dropped its semifinal game as Valley Christian went on to win its fourth consecutive championship. That loss fueled San Tan Charter this season, though. 

The Roadrunners had to wait until this season to meet Valley Christian for the very first time in a battle between the top two teams in the small school conferences. 

“It means a lot to be able to show everybody all of the hard work we put in (was rewarded) and show that we are just more than just a good 2A team,” Crooms said. "I think we are one of the best teams in Arizona from 1A to 6A. Our boys can play, and they showed it tonight.”

With Max Johnson doing a great job of sticking with San Tan Charter’s leading scorer, Payton Lubash (23 ppg), the Roadrunners still proved why they had the best team this season. 

“We have wanted to dare teams to try and take Peyton away and not believe that Kristo (Jackson) or Jace (Benjamin) or Jachin (Reynolds) or Tori (Street) or Dylan (Vargas) can really play,” Crooms said. “They really showed up and stepped up tonight.”

Lubash was held to 12 points but started the sequence that helped his team start to take control. 

He swished a three with a man in his face for his field goal and, after a Benjamin basket, made a one-handed, off balanced circus shot to put his team up 15-12. 

Vargas closed the first period with a putback buzzer beater. San Tan Charter then opened the second quarter by hitting four of its first five shots to help it take a 13 point lead.  

It’s been a tough season for Benjamin, a 6-1 junior shooting guard, who hasn’t played much because of injuries. But he stepped up in the final, finishing with 12 points.

"It means the world,” Benjamin said. “My teammates know it’s been a hard season going through injuries and stuff, but they’ve always been there for me. They trusted me to take the shots today, and I took them.”

But you can’t keep a defending champ down for long.

Valley Christian (21-8) responded in the third quarter with the help of San Tan Charter. During a stretch in which Valley Christian outscored the Roadrunners 13-5, San Tan Charter was assessed a technical for illegal participation during a substitution. 

Senior Pax Tamlyn also took a charge that helped his team keep the momentum and get to within 36-33 of San Tan Charter’s lead. But that’s when the MVP of the game hit his biggest shot of the game. 

San Tan Charter's Kristo Jackson's (No. 4) teammates congratulate him after being announced as the Copper MVP Saturday at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPresp365)Jackson converted a three to allow the Roadrunners (24-3) to regain control. The senior guard wound up with a team-high 15 points in 20 minutes. 

“It just starts from practice,” Jackson said. "Every day we put the hard work in and go over game plans and make sure we execute. All these guys can hoop. So it’s definitely not a one man show. Everybody can do something.”

Another player who can hoop is Valley Christian’s Colby Jessup. 

One of the team’s stars over the past two years, Jessup wrapped up his career with a game-high 22 points.  

 “That’s great program,” said Crooms of Valley Christian. “The coaches do a great job. They don’t get rattled. They made all of the right plays. They ran their stuff even though we knew their stuff. But they still got to it. They are a great program and very classy. I would like to see them here again next year.”

 Valley Christian made its 11th state title appearance in the past 24 years. (Jose Garcia photo/azpreps365)