Overtime upset over top seed in semis propels Pueblo to 4A girls basketball championship game

GILBERT — The fourth-seeded Pueblo girls faced a bigger, stronger and plenty versatile team that figured it had a chance to compete against any team in the state — regardless of classification.

But the Warriors — wearing their baby blue jerseys with the Spanish translation “Guerreros” on the front — out-hustled No. 1 Gilbert Mesquite Tuesday night, particularly in the first minute of overtime, to upset the Wildcats 52-48 and advance to the 4A state championship game.

Pueblo will face No. 2 Flagstaff for the 4A girls crown Thursday at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

“I was thinking this was our game because it’s basically 0-0 again,” senior guard Victoria Cazares said. “So I was thinking it’s our game. I can’t be negative at the end.”

After playing from behind almost all night, Pueblo seized the momentum in the opening seconds of overtime. Cazares hit a 3-pointer — not far from the one she made to tie the game in regulation — just 23 seconds into the extra period. Then, Pueblo pressured the Wildcats on the ensuing in-bounds. The Warriors ended up with the ball and Myla Truitt made a 12-footer to give Pueblo a 50-45 advantage. Mesquite’s Mya Way hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 left to make it closer, but Pueblo shut out the hosts the rest of the way.

Cazares stole a rebound from the bigger Wildcats with 26 seconds and the Warriors held on.

“After all the hard work, we are finally there, so I can’t be happier,” Cazares said of reaching the state championship game. “We just have to play our game and we will be fine.”

Cazares had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Warriors to Thursday’s final against Flagstaff at 6 p.m. Flagstaff beat No. 3 Glendale Deer Valley 68-49 earlier Tuesday.

“Every team we played against out-sized us, out-rebound us,” Pueblo coach Izzy Galindo said. “So my words to them was ‘let’s get the defensive rebounds and not worry about the offensive rebounds. Get what we can. Be smart on defense.’ They listened and we got the win.”

Pueblo is the last Tucson-area prep basketball team — boys or girls — still standing this season after Catalina Foothills’ run through the girls 5A tournament ended Tuesday at Canyon View High School in Waddell.

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The fifth-seed Falcons trailed No. 1 Canyon View 45-27 at the half. They outscored the Jaguars 18-5 in the third quarter before ultimately tying the game at 58 all in the fourth, but Canyon View would pull away down the stretch for the 72-62 victory.

Pueblo (23-7) now makes its first trip to a state title game since losing to Chandler Seton Catholic in 2018. Until this week, that 2018 trip remains the only prior time the Pueblo girls team has reached an Arizona high school championship game.

“In the beginning I was pretty nervous, so that’s why I couldn’t do my thing at the beginning,” Cazares said of Tuesday’s win. “But once we went into overtime, now I have to, it’s a must, I had to pull it off at the end.”

Cazares’ freshman sister America added 11 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots for the Warriors, who started the postseason in the 32-team Open Division tournament as a No. 25 seed. But Pueblo lost to Salpointe Catholic by 20 in the first round. Yet in the first two rounds of the class 4A tournament, the Warriors beat Surprise Paradise Honors and Sahuaro to reach the final four.

“We’re used to playing taller teams, we’re always the smaller team, but I like that they weren’t calling a lot stuff, both ways, they just let us play and that lets the game run smoother,” Cazares said.

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Pueblo stayed close all night, tying the game at 45 when Cazares hit a 22-footer from the top of the key with 3:07 left in regulation. But neither team could convert anything else down the stretch, Mesquite missing the front end of a 1-and-1 and then getting called for a travel in the lane. Pueblo missed two layups in the final 70 seconds, leading to the extra period.

Mesquite (24-7) pressured Pueblo all night, negating any semblance of an inside game with a front line that measures 5-11, 5-11 and 5-7 across. Pueblo doesn’t have a player over 5-8, with Sandra Perez is the tallest starter at 5-7. But when the Warriors refused to give up and kept trying to drive, Mesquite responded with a zone defense. Pueblo did go cold for a stretch in first quarter after making its first two shots and then fell behind 39-32 after Mesquite scored seven straight points in the final 2:33 of the third quarter. Truitt’s long 3-pointer at the buzzer put Pueblo within 39-35 going into the final quarter.

“I told the girls before the season that we have a team that can win at state,” Galindo said. “Just because we have five girls that can shoot, five girls that can dribble right and left and attack the basket.”