Lancers' seniors stepped up during tense moments of state championship game

PHOENIX — Finally.

When you’ve had to wait forever, well, what’s another four minutes of overtime?

Salpointe Catholic worked overtime to capture its first-ever basketball championship, 54-48 win over top-seeded Peoria in the Class 4A state championship game.

Four minutes can seem like a lifetime, especially in the heated cauldron of a hotly contested championship game.

But for coach Jim Reynolds and the five seniors he placed his trust in for those final four minutes, it was time well spent.

Salpointe outscored Peoria 6-0 in the final period, and seniors were everywhere you looked.

Grant Weitman who outbattled the Panthers’ talented big man, Kevin Kogbara. Evan Nelson was relentless throughout the game. Jordan Gainey crashed the boards fearlessly, hauling down 11 rebounds despite being saddled with four fouls. Jake Cioe made three big baskets and tied for the team lead with four assists. And Braden Miller sunk a layup, his only points of the game, to clinch a championship.

Reynolds leaned on the seniors, shortening his bench. Junior Brady Ramon played 15 minutes as a reserve, and Tommy Irish made the most of his four minutes, hitting 2 of 3 shots and finishing with five points and a rebound.

It was a game of runs, with each team leading by as many as seven points. The Panthers used a six-point run to take an early 8-5 lead, but the Lancers responded with a run of their own to close out the first quarter with a 17-12 lead.

Peoria used two second-quarter runs, outscoring the Lancers 19-8, to take a seven-point lead at the half.

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But the Lancers never gave in, battling back in the third to cut the lead to two points and then tying the game in the fourth. And then, well, they won it.

Salpointe’s first-ever state championship in boys basketball was also a first for Reynolds, who put together a hall of fame career in Ohio before moving to Tucson to be closer to his son Ryan, a member of the UA men’s basketball team’s support staff.

Reynolds, in his 43rd year of coaching, has a sense of perspective that one gains over time.

“I’ve done this so long,” he reflected in the quiet after the group photos, hugs, well-wishes and the general rush of euphoria that accompanies the ultimate win, “that a championship shouldn’t define you.

“Are Peoria any less of a team, or Foothills?”

Reynolds noted Salpointe’s “long history of basketball tradition: great coaches, great players.”

As he sat on a set of temporary benches, the reality kicked in.

“It’s an honor,” he allowed, “to be mentioned with them.”

Maybe it was coincidence — or a good omen, even . At halftime Saturday, the 1970 Sahuaro boys championship team was honored for its first championship.

An hour or so later, Salpointe joined the club.