Valley Christian coach Greg Haagsma kept perspiring and wiping his face with a towel in the fourth quarter.

A tense game against a worthy opponent, Snowflake, had Haagsma working overtime. But in a game of runs, Haagsma’s boys made the last run to seal Valley Christian’s trip to Saturday’s Division III state boys basketball final and a 61-55 victory.  

Bring on Gilbert Christian. On Saturday, Valley Christian and Gilbert Christian will square off for the fourth time this season, with Valley Christian seeking its first win against its section foe.

But No. 4 seed Snowflake (26-8) made sure Friday that No. 9 seed Valley Christian (23-9) earned its trip to the championship game. Valley Christian players didn’t breath a collective sigh of relief until Haagsma’s son, Brandon, hit a couple of clutch threes and the team made its free throws down the stretch.

Brandon’s three at the 3:33 mark gave Valley Christian its first lead (52-50) in the fourth quarter. His third trey of the game put his team up by five with 1:20 left.

Brandon (15 points, 5 steals in 28 minutes) finished one rebound and an assist shy of a triple double. Snowflake trailed by 13 points late in the third quarter but ended the quarter with a 11-3 run thanks in part to Chase Walden’s (19 points) points in transition and a 1-2-1 zone trap.

“That’s the hardest trap we’ve played all year long,” Haagsma said. “They (Snowflake) moved well and that really changed the momentum in the second half.

“When they threw it (1-2-1 trap) at us, that was tough. But at the end we hit some big shots, and we are a shooting team. That’s how we win ballgames.”

Center T.J. Widner led Valley Christian with 21 points and did a good job of not picking up his fifth foul late in the fourth quarter.

Forward Reggie Peterson (20 points, game-high 12 rebounds) helped Snowflake outrebound Valley Christian 41-30.