Sabino jumped out to seven-point halftime lead and held on to to beat a higher-ranked Paradise Honors squad, 56-53, in Tuesday's Class 3A boys basketball quarterfinals in Prescott.
The fifth-seeded Sabercats will take on either No. 1 Page in Friday night's 3A state semifinals at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
Paradise, seeded fourth, outscored Sabino 22-17 in the third quarter to narrow the margin to two points heading into the final eight minutes. But Sabercats tightened up their defense, outscoring Paradise 14-13 to preserve the win.
The Sabino-Paradise honors matchup was one of two state semifinals featuring local teams on Tuesday. Host Salpointe Catholic will take on Catalina Foothills at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday's Class 4A state title game.Β
