By Sam Ganczaruk

For West Valley Preps

Valley Vista is a step closer to defending its state title but it wasn’t pretty.

No one is surprised that the No. 2-seeded Monsoon eliminated No. 7 Phoenix Pinnacle with a 61-53 victory Saturday to advance to the semifinals of the 6A girls state playoffs but the game being as close as it was was a bit stunning.

“We just didn’t play very well tonight, we just didn’t,” Valley Vista coach Rachel Matakas said. “We just played bad defense. We were out of position.”

The ultimate goal is to survive and advance but Matakas has high standards for her senior-laden team that is trying to defend their title.

The Monsoon (23-6) will face No. 3 Gilbert (25-3) at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State with a return to the title game on the line.

Gilbert earned a trip to the final four with a 59-55 victory Saturday  over No. 11 Hamilton. This is the second time Valley Vista will face Gilbert after the Monsoon upended the Tigers 61-42 in the Highland Thanksgiving Tournament earlier this season.

“I thought Pinnacle did a hell of a job,” Matakas said. “Hats off to them, they are a good program and rising.”

For Valley Vista to reach the championship game again, the Monsoon will need to play  like they did at the start of the final quarter. After Pinnacle (23-6) had cut the lead to 45-42 at the end of the third, Valley Vista went on a 10-2 run to widen the lead.

“Just seeing the mismatch and knowing that I could take her, kind of calmed everyone down,” said senior Clarissa Rodarte, who scored six of her 16 points during the outburst. “Everyone wants to knock Valley off so there is a lot of pressure.”

Team leader and future Oregon Duck Taylor Chavez was back in the lineup after sitting out the playoff opener with a sprained right ankle and her presence was evident. The senior guard helped ice the game with two layups on the block in the final 2 minutes to put Valley ahead 59-50.

“It was a good test to face that adversity and find a way to fix it,” said Chavez, who finished with a game-high 21 points. “From here on out there are going to be no more blowouts.”

With Chavez healthy and drawing extra attention from Pinnacle, senior guard Terrysha Banner and freshman forward Marisa Davis covered their open looks. Banner had eight of her 10 points in the first half.

Davis crashed the boards and play stellar defense while scoring 12 points.

“Those kids have been starting forever and they are tough,” Pinnacle coach Rick Bunger said. “We just had some shots that didn’t go.”

Even though Matakas was disappointed with her team’s play she knows going forward that her seniors will fix any problems.

“At the end of the day, they are going to watch film,” Matakas said. “They are going to see it and know they can’t repeat it.”

Valley Vista senior guard Taylor Chavez goes up for a layup against Phoenix Pinnacle junior forward Ellie Moore during Saturday's 6A girls basketball semifinal in Surprise. [Elliott Glick/West Valley Preps][/caption]

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Pinnacle      14 10 18 11 - 53

Valley Vista 17  19  9 16 - 61

BOX SCORE

Pinnacle - Shaila Mays 13, Ellie Moore 10, Ally Stedman 10, Shay Figueroa 9, Alysha Andrade 6, Bryn Parker 4, Nora Krupa 1

Valley Vista - Taylor Chavez 21, Clarissa Rodarte 16, Marisa Davis 12, Terrysha Banner 10, Tianna Brown 2.