Discipline is vital throughout a season.

Discipline in the post season is an absolute must if you wish to survive and advance.

This non secret was on full display Friday night when 4A Conference #1 seed Peoria took on #8 seed Deer Valley for the third time this season at Peoria High School.

After Deer Valley came storming back from a 13-point deficit to eventually tie the game at 62-62 with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter, a calm set in over the hosts.

Strong free throw shooting by Panthers’ big man Kevin Kogbara, and 3-pointers by Isaac Monroe and Andrew Camacho in the game’s final two-and-a-half minutes, propelled the Panthers to a 76-70 win and into the 4A Conference Final Four on Tuesday where they will host #4 Phoenix St. Mary’s Catholic.

“(Deer Valley) has been in the state finals the last several years, so we knew it was going to be a battle,” said Peoria interim coach Patrick Battillo.

“We just asked them to stay composed and stay disciplined. They were so focused and did exactly what we asked. That was the key.” Battillo added.

With 2:09 left in the third quarter, the frosh Camacho (15 points) drilled a 3-pointer allowing the Panthers (25-3) to break open a tight game, jumping out to a commanding 56-43 lead.

But the Skyhawks came charging all the way back in a huge way.

Starting with a Jackson Leyba jumper at the 1:51 mark of the third quarter, and concluding with a pair of Christian Jurewicz (11 points) free throws, the visitors managed to forge its first tie of the game at 62-62 capping a 17-4 run.

Leyba highlighted the run scoring seven of his team-high 15 points to put the top seed on the ropes with time winding down.

“He’s a bad bad boy,” Deer Valley coach Jeb Dunn said of Leyba, a junior who was the only one of his teammates with tournament experience after the Skyhawks graduated 11 off last year’s state runner up roster.

“He’s been in a lot big games. He is such a tough kid. I am so proud of him and all of our kids. They really battled,” Dunn said.

Ultimately however it was Kogbara’s ice-in-the-veins shooting touch from the free throw line that would prove to be too much to overcome for Deer Valley.

The 6-foot-5 junior, who poured in a game-high 23 points, nailed 4-of-6 from the charity stripe in the game’s final moments to seal the win. None was bigger than his free throw with 2:41 left that put his team back on top 63-62, a lead they would never relinquish.

“We knew we were going to have to hit our free throws down the stretch in order to win the game,” Kogbara said. “We practiced all week hitting our free throws and talked about finishing games. That’s what we did tonight.”

Monroe (19 points) and junior Corey Perry (11 points) also reached double figures for Peoria while junior Semajay James (14 points), senior Charles Hill (14 points), freshman Jayden Sleeper (10 points) and sophomore Jo Jo Montgomery (10 points) hit double digit points for Deer Valley.