Sports360AZThe electricity was evident inside Veterans Memorial Coliseum as 6A heavyweights Highland and Brophy took the floor for an opportunity to add a gold ball to the their respective trophy cases in the Boys State Championship Game.
Little did anyone in attendance realize it would go down as one of the best Arizona State Championships ever played as Highland outlasted Brophy 63-61 in double overtime Saturday afternoon in central Phoenix.
Quite simply, the Hawks made one more clutch shot than the Broncos, thanks to senior forward Hayden Winegar.
Full sequence of Hayden Winegar’s game-winning shot to win the 6A State Title including Highland’s celebration🏆@athletics_hawks @Sports360AZ https://t.co/tnlTujKKxw pic.twitter.com/E5l96d39V5
— Eliav Gabay (@eliavgabay) March 4, 2023
“It was amazing,” Winegar said reliving the play. “They triple-teamed Brock [Knollmiller]. He passed it to me. I was wide open and happened to knock it down…i
Things started well for the second-seeded Broncos. BCP shot 55% from the field, and held an early advantage on the boards (8-5). BCP junior guard Braeden Speed scored on seven points on perfect 3-3 shooting from the floor.
Who’s to say where Highland would have been in the opening quarter without Knollmiller. The 6-foot-1 senior guard poured in eight points, including a last-second three-pointer to cut the Brophy lead to 16-12.
Highland swung momentum in the second stanza and the game was tied at 21 at the mid-quarter media timeout.
The top-seeded Hawks took a slim two-point lead into the locker room on season top-scorer Noah Peterson’s late putback just before the halftime horn sounded.
The slim margin through the first 16 minutes of game action was reflective in the box score. The Broncos held a slim 16-14 rebounding advantage. Both teams committed four turnovers.
HALFTIME: Highland leads Brophy 28-26 in a back and forth first half of play. The Hawks talented backcourt of Noah Peterson and Brock Knollmiller share a team-high 14 points.
6A Boys Championship Game has been a great one so far!
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Knollmiller and Peterson continued to cook in the second half until Speed’s three-point play, followed by a putback layup tied the game at 37 midway through the third quarter. BCP would eventually regain the lead at 41-39 at media timeout with 2:37 to play.
The nail-biter continued into the fourth quarter and the game was tied at 50 at the final media timeout.
Highland would eventually call timeout, with the ball, and 22.3 seconds to play in regulation with game knotted at 52.
The Hawks would bleed the clock and Isaac Kaps would be fouled with less than five seconds to play. Kaps would leave the front end of his one-and-one short, and the teams would head overtime.
Highland would stike first on a Peterson driving basket in the lane, followed by two free throws to push the margin to 56-52 at the 3:15 mark, but Brophy would respond with a clutch wing three-pointer, and free throw on the next possession to re-tie the game.
Neither team could execute offensively down the stretch – double overtime would ensue.
Knollmiller’s three-point play would tie the game at 59 with just over two minutes to play in double OT.
With Brophy leading 61-60, Highland got the ball with 27.9 seconds left following an alternating possession off a jump ball. Winegar did the rest.
Peterson garnered game highs in points (27) and rebounds (22). Knollmiller added 22 points, and three steals. Speed paced Brophy with 22 points and 11 rebounds, Madi added 15. Sharper finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
