Hamilton coach Doug Harris offers instruction during the Huskies' win over Red Mountain. (AzPreps365 photo)

Hamilton forward Zach Anderson doesn't have the name recognition of many of the standout prep players in the state, but Red Mountain won't soon forget the pain he inflicted to deny it a come-from-behind win.

Anderson connected on two perimeter shots in the final 2 minutes and 45 seconds Wednesday night, the last one with five seconds left tthat delivered No. 7 Hamilton a hard-earned 48-47 victory over host and No. 5 Red Mountain in a 6A non-region contest. Anderson finished with 15 points, bookending his points almost exclusively (seven in the first quarter and six in the fourth).

The triumph allowed Hamilton (15-5 overall) to avoid a two-game skid as the Huskies last outing saw them fall upset victim to rival Chandler on Jan. 12. Hamilton is 10-2 in power-ranking games. Both its power-ranking losses have happened in the last week. Red Mountain is 12-8 overall, 9-3 in prg,  

"We had a couple of good days of practice before this game and I was hoping those would carry over," Hamilton coach Doug Harris said. "We needed to get over that last game. We  showed some fight. Some grit. We fought hard at the end to win it. Zach is a tough kid. Those were big-time shots he made."

Both teams showed grit and determination. Hamilton never trailed until the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Prior to that the Huskies led by as many as 11 points -- exactly their lead (34-23 with 6:18 to play in the third quarter). By the end of that quarter the Timmy Allen-led Mountain Lions had drawn even at 38 heading to the fourth quarter. Allen scored 10 of his game-high 28 points in the third period. Allen continued his scoring assault, hitting the first basket of the final quarter for Red Mountain's initial lead, 40-38.

Over the game's final 2:45 the lead changed hands five times. Anderson, a sturdy 6-foot-5 senior and 2nd team all-region performer last year, sank a three from the left corner off an assist by Rashad Smith (team-hgh 17 points) to make it 44-43 Huskies.

The next three lead changes -- in order -- came from Allen (45-44) on darting move in the paint, Hamilton 6-7 post Thayne Hunter (46-45) with 12-foot bank from a tough angle and Red Mountain's Andre Harris (47-46) with a swish from the left baseline corner with 1:19 to go.

Hamilton took its time looking for the right shot and got off a couple tries at the 40-second mark. The Huskies maintained possession and called time with 32 seconds left to work for the lead again. Smith was the guy Hamilton wanted to take a shot, but he was bottled up in the lane with less than 10 seconds left. Smith kicked it out to Anderson, who confidently fired up a 15-footer under pressure and buried it for the final margin. Red Mountain got the ball to Allen, but he couldn't get off a clean shot from just across half court as the buzzer sounded.

Allen was contested often in the lane where he did most of his damage Wednesday, getting four shots swatted away. He wasn't deterred and neither was dynamic teammate Andre Harris, who added 10 points. Quincy Reece chipped in seven points for the Mountain Lions.