Four of a kind.

That's what Corona del Sol's boys basketball team played its final four games of the 2012-2013 season. Four  nail-biting, gut-wrenching, fist-clenching contests that all turned out in the affirmative. And this time of year, total affirmation means state title.

The final game of the set on Saturday saw the top-seeded Aztecs overcome a seven-point deficit in the final four minutes and knock off No.3 seed Pinnacle, 63-59, in the Division I boys championship game at Jobing.com Arena. Corona won its four state tournament games by a total of 14 points. The Aztecs won three of their four games last year at state by double digits. Different path, same result.

The championship is the second in a row for Corona (30-5) and sixth since it opened in 1978. Corona managed to rebound from the loss of three starters to graduation by getting strong leadership from junior guard Casey Benson (12 points, eight rebounds and six assists) and senior Bryan Siefker (team-high 19 points). Both were huge in different ways Saturday in spurring Corona's rally. Pinnacle, which entered the game having won its last 16 games, finished up the season 26-8. Corona had two other starters score in double figures -- Adam Gleave and Cassius Peat with 12 each -- two of the three new starters the Aztecs employed this season in repeating.

Corona found itself behind early and quickly in what was a red-hot start for both teams. Pinnacle led after the first period, 28-23, with junior forward Dorian Pickens unstoppable. Pickens poured in 18 points in the first period, makling 7-of-9 shots from the field, including four 3s. Pickens did not score again until the final period when he put together a smaller string of points to finish with a game-high 24.

Pinnacle led by as many as 10 (40-30) in the second period and settled for a 40-33 lead at halftime. That lead remained steady until the four-minute mark of the fourth period. After a final salvo of six straight points from Pickens, the last two with 3:32 left, Pinnacle held a 57-50 lead. Corona, which rallied to beat Mountain Pointe, Millennium and Desert Mountain in its three prior tournament games, had another ace up its sleeve.

"We told them at hafltime they had to grind it out and believe," Corona del Sol coach Sam Duane Jr. said. "I've said it before. These guys just find a way....

" We told them before the game about transition and rebounding,. The first quarter and first half they killed us in both."

Benson, who had a rough game shooting and scoring, became more aggressive taking the ball to the basket in the second half after hitting just 2-for-9 from the field in the first half and 3-of-13 overall.  After Siefker made the final of his five 3s to pull Corona within 57-53, Benson dished for back-to-back assists to Gleave and Peat. Peat was fouled and completed a three-point play that put the Aztecs in front for good, 58-5, with 1:14 to play. It was their first lead since 10-8 in the opening quarter.

Benson and Gleave added three free throws wrapped around a layup by Pinnacle's Drew Bender. Bender, headed for Rice next fall, picked up his play the last six quarters of the season  after gutting out an ankle injury that seemed to severe initially for him to compete at all. He finished with 24 points and his final bucket left Corona up 62-59 with 18.5 seconds left.

Pinnacle, without a timeout, got the ball in Bender's hands after Gleave's free throws and the senior fired up a three from 20 feet. The ball rattled in and out to a frustrated Bender's dismay and Siefker grabbed the rebound. Bender pulled his jersey over his head after the miss wondering to himself how that shot failed to go in.

Siefker was fouled after grabbing the rebound and added one free throw with nine seconds left for the final margin of victory.

"The pace of the game got away from us," Pinnacle coach Charlie Wilde said. "We wanted a fast pace lke we had early..... It comes down to a little luck, a call or two and basket that goes in not out. That's stuff you have no control over. It's part of the game."

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