So many close games have come Brophy Prep's way this season. For a brief moment perhaps Brophy Prep thought there wouldn't be one Thursday night as the Broncos took a 10-point lead over host Mountain View to the final 2 1/2 minutes. Brophy coach Matt Hooten knew better.

"I told out guys no matter what the score or how much time was left, Mountain View will keep playing and keep playing," Hooten said. "That's what Gary Ernst's teams do."

Brophy's 10-point cushion melted to one with 18.8 seconds left and it took two free throws with 11.6 to go by Ryan Gilburne to allow the No. 7 Broncos to hang on for a 57-54 victory over the No. 18 Toros in a 6A non-region game at Toro Gym.

As is normal, Brophy (12-9 overall, 9-5 power-ranking games) had no single player go off offensively. Senior Marques White scored 15, junior Arnold Dates 13, Gilburne 11 and Basil Ribakare checked in with 9. This game was the sixth in a row Brophy has played since January began and all have been decided by five points or less. They are 6-3 overall in those kind of games. Mountain View is no stranger to the nail-biters. The Toros (11-10, 7-7 prg) are 5-5 in games decided by five or less.

Brophy achieved its late 10-point lead with White and Dates doing the scoring. White's layup with 2:36 to go made it a 54-44 game. Mountain View began closing in with a three from guard Grant Hansen  and amplified the run with strong moves to the basket by Zach Lyons and Preston Jones. Jones' spinning layup at the 18.8 mark made it 55-54. Two time outs later - one by each team - Gilburne was fouled and made two free throws (11.6 left) yet still not out of reach.

Mountain View settled for a tough three from Blake Tingey (game-high 16 points) a few feet beyond the 3-point line, but it was off target as time expired.

"Our guys have grown up with all these close games," Hooten said. "We gave up a few of these early. We had three games early that were tied and decided in the last 10 seconds. One of those Marques made the game-winning shot. That was a big night for him."

Dartmouth's football coach was in town that night to watch White. White made some other key plays in that game against Mountain Pointe along with the winning basket. When the game ended, Dartmouth's coach greeted him and offered him.

"I'm not sure if he'd already decided to offer Marques when he came, but watching him playing another sport and showing the will to win didn't hurt," Hooten said.

Mountain View dropped a two-point game to Red Mountain on Tuesday and with the Brophy loss must regroup on Friday night hosting Skyline to start a four-game finish to the season and region play. Despite playing essentially .500 ball, Mountain View controls its destiny in the fight to take the East Valley Region title. Skyline leads at the moment at 5-2. Mountain View is second at 4-2, but owns a win over Skyline earlier this month. The Toros also have games against Westwood, Mesa and Dobson.

Brophy returns to its Premier Region schedule on Friday with a visit to Perry - a rematch of a triple-overtime contest won this month by Brophy.