By Sam Ganczaruk

From West Valley Preps

Jojo Rincon had no idea what he had done Friday until his Centennial teammates and the student body came rushing toward him.

The sophomore guard was mobbed after moments earlier he found himself nearly at half court when a blocked shot bounced out to him and he fired a desperation 3-point heave as time ticked down that miraculously swished.

Friday's buzzer-beater sent upstart No. 11-seeded Centennial to the semifinals of the 5A Boys State Championship with a thrilling 69-66 victory over visiting No. 14 Laveen Betty Fairfax.

“I actually thought the buzzer already went so I just threw it and tried to make it has clean as I could,” said Rincon, who was doused with water by his teammates to celebrate. “I turned my feet the right way, I didn’t wanted to throw it like a random shot.”

The shot went viral Friday night and wound up in the Top 10 plays on SportsCenter.

The improbable ending allowed the Coyotes (16-13) to advance to a semifinal meeting with No. 2 Phoenix Sunnyslope (26-5) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wells Fargo Arena on the campus of Arizona State.

Defensing state champion Sunnyslope rolled No. 10 Tucson Sahuaro, 67-34, in the quarterfinals.

“We didn’t even expect to go this far and that is what is so exciting and so satisfying to take these kids and go to the final four,” said first-year Coyotes coach Randy Lavender. “Who else would of said that? Everybody else would have laughed at Centennial.”

Nobody is chuckling now as the Coyotes, who are known for their dominance in football but only played their first playoff game since 2006 on Tuesday.

Centennial controlled the game most of the night with inside play from Trent Washington, another do-all effort from Koby Jones and sharp-shooting from guards Kyle Shough and Payton Nelson.

“We started off this season really bad and unorganized but this man (Lavender) right here got us working together as a team,” said Jones, who finished with 15 points. “There are no more individuals. We don’t care who scores and we don’t care who we play (because) we are playing as a team and together. We all believe in each other.”

Centennial's David Teibo (#44) collides with Betty H. Fairfax's Ethan Nelson (#3) while grabbing a rebound on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018 at Centennial High School in Peoria. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]That belief was tested as Fairfax (22-8) took its only lead in the fourth quarter after Makael Rainbow finished a fast break with a layup to go up 66-65 with 2:32 remaining.

“They were down and I said ‘look, it ain’t over, let’s go down and get a score’,” Lavender said.

Centennial answered as Washington was fouled on a drive to hoop by Fairfax’s Donovan Reagan with 2:18 remaining. Washington, who finished with 15 points, converted one of two free throws to tie the game at 66.

That’s when the craziness began. On the next Fairfax offensive possession, Stampede coach Josh Wray elected to play a variation of the Four Corners offense and waited for Centennial to apply pressure and chase the ball. Lavender and the Coyotes did not comply and Rainbow stood there just past halfcourt patiently dribbling as the clock ticked toward zero.

“I was surprised he went to that,” Lavender said. “A lot of times that doesn’t work when it is tied up.”

Finally, Lavender signaled to his guards to apply pressure a few passes later Fairfax’s Billy Coleman drove the lane and tried to bank a shot in as he floated to the left of the basket but it did not go down.

Centennial corralled the rebound and called timeout with 8.9 seconds left.

“I’d do it the same,” Fairfax coach Josh Wray said. “The goal there was to take the last shot so they wouldn’t have enough time to get a shot off. So in my eyes I thought the best strategy at that time was we are either winning or we will go win this in overtime if they are not going to come out and cover, which is what I wanted them to do, but their coach decided to leave them back in it.”

Lavender drew up a play to get the ball to Jones but Fairfax covered him so the pass went into Rincon, then Nelson, who dribbled down the sideline to the baseline and eventually dropped the ball off to Washington.

The senior forward took a dribble and went up for a runner but the shot was blocked out toward halfcourt and found its way to Rincon.

“We are making history,” said Rincon, who finished with seven points. “We we are one big family and want to go as far as we can.”

Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time this season Rincon made a miraculous long three. Lavender said the guard hit a running bank-shot three against Shadow Ridge back on Jan. 23 to force double overtime and springboard the Coyotes to a crucial 67-63 win.

“Jojo came through again,” Lavender said.

Centennial's Trent Washington (#23) grabs a rebound against Betty H. Fairfax on Friday, Feb. 16 at Centennial High School in Peoria. [Jacob Stanek/West Valley Preps][/caption]

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Betty Fairfax 14 16 20 16 - 66

Centennial    18 15 21 15 - 69

BOX SCORE

Betty Fairfax - Makael Rainbow 29, Donovan Reagan 17, Ethan Nelson 8, Dorrein Ezell 6, Kaleb Gonzales 4, Billy Coleman 2.

Centennial - Koby Jones 15, Trent Washington 15, Kyle Shough 12, Payton Nelson 10, Jojo Rincon 7, Dallin Dutry 4, David Teibo 3, Luke Shough 3.