A late rally by Mountain Pointe’s boys basketball team lifted them to a 53-48 win over Corona del Sol Tuesday night, avoiding a stumble on the eve of the state playoffs.

The Pride (21-6, 9-1) came into the game having already clinched the regional title over Desert Vista, but struggled in the early phases against the Aztecs (15-12, 6-4).

In the end, a strong defensive effort held Corona to just five points in the final quarter, allowing the hosts to overcome a 43-34 third quarter deficit. 

“We did not shoot the ball well at all,” Mountain Pointe head coach Kirk Fauske said. 

To the despair of their coaching staff, the Pride seemed reluctant at first to work the ball inside. They took eight 3-point shots in the first quarter, but only one of them was on target.

They also had to contend with a standout second-quarter performance by Corona del Sol's Eric Blackwell. After picking up two from the line in the first quarter, he went on a scoring spree from behind the arc. At halftime, he had 21 points, and the Aztecs led 32-19.

That didn't last. “Unfortunately, we’re not real deep,” Aztecs coach Neil MacDonald said. Fatigue set in, and Blackwell didn’t manage another score all game.

Mountain Pointe also faced their own struggles with star player Khalid Price taking a tumble in the second quarter. He sat out the remainder of the game as a precaution, but Fauske said “he was asking me to come in with three minutes left to go.”

Two second-half dunks from 6-10 senior Jalen Graham helped fired up the home crowd. The second of those dunks, coming with three minutes left to play, gave the Pride their first lead of the half.

With 22 seconds left, Mountain Pointe still held a one-point lead. Senior J’Saan Strover stepped up to the free-throw line for a 1-and-1. He sank both shots to put the game just out of Corona’s reach. They later tacked on two more points to round out the game at 53-48.

MacDonald said his team will gain confidence after their performance, but he’d “rather have the win than the confidence.”

“We’ve beaten Chandler. We’ve beaten Brophy. We’ve beaten top teams in the state,” he added. “We came out and played well tonight. We just turned the ball over too many times down the stretch and we didn’t take care of it. We didn’t make our free throws.”

Corona will now face a play-in game on Friday at Mesa Mountain View (14-10, 7-3).

Despite the close nature of the game, Fauske is happy going into the state tournament.

“It’s better to go into the playoffs with a win,” he said, “and especially a hard-fought win like that, because now it makes you hungry a little bit.”

Mountain Pointe will start its state tournament campaign on Thursday, Feb. 14.