Flagstaff High School Falls in State Semifinals

GLENDALE -- With 4.1 seconds left in his team's game against Glendale Kellis in the Class 4A, Division II state semifinals, Flagstaff High girls coach Tyrone Johnson took extra time in the huddle to remind his team to make sure everyone boxed out. With Kellis' Tiffany Ortega at the free throw line and the Cougars trailing by two, Johnson had a feeling that Ortega was going to miss one of her two free throws. After nailing the first one, Ortega missed long on the second and Johnson's hunch became reality. Leading by one, all FHS had to do was secure the rebound and knock down a free throw or two and it would find itself in the state championship game. Instead, FHS's Stephanie Ryan got tied up with a Kellis player fighting for the rebound and a jump ball was called, giving the ball back to the Cougars. Kellis quickly inbounded the ball and senior Brittany Rizzuto got free under the basket and hit a layup with 1.3 seconds left. FHS's Michelle Blanton heaved up a shot for the Eagles as the buzzer sounded, but it fell short, giving Kellis a 63-62 win over FHS and ending the Eagles' season. "We were playing good defense all game long that I didn't feel like I needed to call a timeout after the jump ball," Johnson said. "I thought we'd be able to hold them down for one possession. Looking back, I definitely wish we would have called a timeout and gone over our plan. There's nothing you can do about it now." FHS led for most of the game and led by as many as nine points, when Ryan nailed a 3-pointer in the middle of the third quarter to give FHS a 46-37 lead. Kellis started to chip away at the lead and got it to five by end of the third. The Eagles still controlled the game for most of the fourth quarter and led until there was 45.6 seconds remaining in the game. At that point, Kellis' Kayla MacKenzie, who finished with 27 points, hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 60. On FHS's next possession, sophomore point guard Ileana Johnson raced down the court and got fouled going up for a layup. She knocked one of two down to give FHS a one-point lead with 23.4 seconds left. On Kellis' next possession, MacKenzie missed a jumper and the Eagles' Michelle Blanton pulled down one of her 21 rebounds in the game and quickly gave the ball to Ileana Johnson. Johnson was fouled almost immediately and again went to the line for two shots. Again, she only connected on one of them, giving FHS a 62-60 lead with 10.8 seconds left. Kellis brought the ball back down without a timeout and Johnson was called for a blocking foul on Ortega, sending her to the line and setting up the jump ball that decided the game. In all, Tyrone Johnson watched as his team hit just seven of 14 free throws in the final quarter, squandering a lead that could have sent the Eagles to the title game. "We definitely had that one," the coach said. "When Michelle got that rebound off that missed shot, I thought that was going to do it for us. You put a game away by hitting your free throws and we didn't do that. "We can't say we didn't have our chances. Kellis never quit and they kept coming us hard at the end and we couldn't put it away. It's going to hurt for a while." Ileana Johnson led the Eagles with a game-high 28 points in her second game back from a shoulder injury. Senior Danielle Sneezy added 18 points, with 13 of them coming in the first half. On top of her 21 rebounds, Blanton finished with seven points and five blocks. "Flagstaff High is really an excellent team. They're one of the best we've seen all year," Kellis coach Samantha Middagh said. "I think we got some momentum there in the fourth quarter whey they started missing their free throws. They gave us an opening and we took advantage of it. That's who we are. We never quit." The Eagles were without second leading scorer, sophomore Kia Sandoval, who Johnson said was ineligible for the game. She was with the team, on the bench in street clothes. Wednesday's loss marked the second straight year that FHS lost in the state semifinals. Last year, FHS lost to eventual state runner-up Page, 43-40. "This was a great group of kids," Tyrone Johnson said. "We overcame some adversity this year and had a solid season. I (told) our seniors that we wish them well and (told) our underclassmen that we have to get right back to work, so we can get farther next year."