PHOENIX โ Nico Mannion came out for warmups Thursday as the only player on Pinnacle High School's team with a black shirt over his jersey.
On the front, "#overrated" was written.
"I hear that all the time from the other student section, so why not make a little fun of myself and let them know I don't care," Mannion said after showing how "overrated" he was in top-seed Phoenix Pinnacle's 79-69 6A boys basketball semifinal win over Gilbert Perry at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena with 42 points, including 18 of 22 free throws.
Mannion, a 6-foot-3 senior point guard who signed with Arizona and is committed to playing in two high school All-American games, missed all seven of his 3-point tries in the first half.
But he found other ways to keep his team in front. He made all five of his two-point shots and hit 4 of 5 free throws, scoring 14 points in the first half, and dishing out five assists, as Pinnacle took a 36-30 lead.
In the second half, Mannion quickly hit his first two 3-point tries, and he was on his way to another huge night.
He made 11 of 23 shots, had six rebounds, six assists and two steals.
"When my shot's not falling, usually someone else is there," Mannion said. "Just working hard. Get to the line. That helps."
Mannion said his pre-game shirt was "a statement."
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Perry took 11 fewer shots than Pinnacle in the first half, but made nine turnovers, while Pinnacle had just three turnovers and six steals.
Trent Brown had four steals and scored 13 points, making 3 of 7 3-pointers in the half.
Brown finished with 20 points on 6 of 11 shooting, including 4 of 9 3s.
Perry hung in with 6-foot-11 freshman Dylan Anderson having his best game of the state tournament with 15 points on 6 of 10 shooting, 3 of 6 from the 3-point arc.
Pinnacle junior big man Tosh Baker drew a tough assignment on Anderson, who made Baker come outside and defend him.
Perry senior guard Jalen Williams, who guarded Mannion for much of the game, got hot in the final quarter to keep the Pumas within striking distance. He had 11 of his 23 points in the last eight minutes, but Perry could get no closer than seven, as it kept putting Mannion on the line.
Perry shot 50 percent from the field, but it was too difficult a task keeping Mannion from doing damage, even when he wasn't nailing 3s.
Mannion, who beat No. 2 Chaparral 91-88 with a 3 at the buzzer in the final regular-season game, will finish his prep career next Tuesday night at ASU against Chaparral to try to capture a second consecutive state championship.
"It's going to be a hard-fought game again," Mannion said. "We've got Trent now. We didn't have Trent in that last game against (Chaparral). We just have to work hard in practice and come in with the same mindset we had tonight."
