The Gilbert district governing board Tuesday night officially approved a recommendation from Mesquite High to hire Matt Gracey as the Wildcats next football coach.

A 10-4 victory would usually result in the winning coach wearing a broad smile. Mesa Mountain View baseball coach Mike Thiel did not have more than half a grin after his Toros topped visiting Mountain Ridge on Tuesday afternoon at Toro Field.

It was not hard to get lost in the shuffle as a prep softball pitcher in the Valley the last few years. Gilbert hurler MIchelle Duncan can relate.

Mesquite turned on the power game, took advantage of a couple Gilbert miscues and rode that combination to an 8-4 win over the host Tigers and the championship of the Scottsdale Quarterback Club Baseball Invitational.

Chandler High played the game it wanted against St. Mary\'s for the first 15 minutes of the 5A-I girls basketball championship game on Friday. It was that last minute of the half that was ugly and esentially ended the Wolves hope of claiming the title St.. Mary\'s used an 9-0 run to end the first half and that opened the gates to a 73-60 win over Chandler at Jobing.com Arena.

Talk about a battle for your first boys basketball title in school history. Chaparral and Betty H. Fairfax was just that Friday afternoon as Chaparral nearly four decades old and Fairfax four-years-old duked it out at Jobing.com Arena. Pierre Newton made free throws and reserve Jovan Wright several clutch 3s in regularion and overtimes as Betty Fairfax dealt Chaparral a second straight gut-wrenching 5A-II state title defeat, 65-60, in double overtime.

Pinnacle was determined to put the clamps on Tolleson guard Syerra Davis on Friday in the 5A-II girls basketball championship game. The Pioneers hounded Davis one-on-one and did a fine job on the Wolverines leading scorer, who had scored 49 points in two previous meetings this season. The solution was for other Tolleson players to step up. That they did.

Mountain View remembered how it played in the first half against Buena in December when it bolted to a 19-point advantage at intermission. Buena was hoping the Toros did not. Fourth-seed Mountain View used an 18-2 edge in the opening period Thursday night to put the top-seed Colts on their heels and went on to post a 67-39 victory in the 5A-I boys basketball semifinals at Jobing.com Arena.

Games are supposed to get tougher as the state tournament progresses. That is not the case for top-seed St. Marys. The Knights raced to a 24-9 lead in the first quarter Thursday and dominated in virtually every facet to defeat No. 5 Xavier, 71-42, in the 5A-I semifinals at Jobing.com Arena.

The game was eerily similar. But in the end not the same. This time Chandler High started fast and maintained its lead the entire way, knocking off third-seed Mesa Mountain View, 58-54 on Thusday afternoon at Jobing.com Arena to advance to the 5A-I state championship game.

Pinnacle girls basketball is resilient. The Pioneers want that moniker to read champions. Sophomore guard Sydney Wiese played like a champion with an amazing 35-point effort Wednesday night helping No. 2 seed Pinnacle edge 10th-seed Horizon, 65-61, in a 5A-II girls basketball semifinal at Jobing.com Arena.

They were not close games the first two times the teams met. Nothing changed the third time. Top-seed Tolleson jumped out to a 17-10 lead after the first period and methodically put away fifth-seeded Westview, 62-37, on Wednesday afternoon in a 5A-II girls basketball semifinal at Jobing.com Arena.

After more than three months without a football coach, Mesa Mtn. View finally has one. The school announced Wednesday it has hired Cactus Shadows coach Chad DeGrenier as its next coach. DeGrenier will be the fourth coach in the 35-year history of the school.

Defense put Gilbert High in a hole Tuesday, but courageous base running and offense dug the Tigers out of that trench and on to an eighth consecutive victory. Cassie Vela stole home on a delayed steal to plate the tie-breaking run and Elysia Mesa ripped a two-run double for insurance a bit later as Gilbert defeated Desert Ridge, 7-4, in a 5A-I non-region softball game at Gilbert. It was the first power-point game of the season for both schools.

Mountain View boys basketball coach Gary Ernst reminded his players at halftime of their quarterfinal matchup with Corona del Sol on Saturday night the importance of what was coming up. A halftime talk he has made many a time. \\\"I told them the first five minutes of the third quarter in a game like this is critical,\\\" Ernst said.

It speaks volumes of a team when its leading scorer averaging a tad under 20 points a game scores just three points and his team still wins the state championship handily. That team Saturday afternoon was 2010 4A-II bridesmaid Amphitheater. The Panthers capped a brilliant 29-2 campaign with a more than decisive 87-77 boys basketball victory over Tempe High at Jobing.com Arena.

The defining moment for Seton Catholic Saturday morning came in the final 10 seconds of the first half of its 4A-II girls championship game against Thunderbird. Thunderbird hoisted up a shot from half court that caromed off the backboard. Noone blocked out the shooter, Shelbie Hess, and she snuck through the lane and scored as the half ended giving the Chiefs a 27-26 lead at halftime. That was an attention getter. No. 2 Seton stormed out in the third quarter, regained command and finally wore down No. 5 Thunderbird in the final period to notch a 61-49 victory and win its second straight state title at Jobing.com Arena.

Aubrey Lincoln had to take time off in the fourth quarter Friday night to deal with her fourth foul, but the only points she contributed in that quarter were oh so huge. Lincoln sank two free throws with 10 seconds left to break a 51-51 tie and give fifth-seed Xavier a heart-stopping 53-51 victory over No. 4 seed Highland in a 5A-I girls basketball quarterfinal battle at Highland.

It took a couple innings to happen, but Hamilton opened its baseball season Friday afternoon in fine fashion. With just about every facet of the game reporting in, the Huskies erased a 1-0 deficit in the top of the fourth inning and went on to pound Desert Vista, 10-1, in the opener for both teams at the Desert Vista invitational.

Gilbert, Perry and Buchanan High, Calif., are the lone remaining unbeaten teams after the firt two days of pool play in the annual Lion Country Classic Softball Tournament at Red Mountain and Skyline high schools.