Thursday night’s open division quarterfinal battle between the #14 seed Valley Vista Monsoon and the #6 seed Pinnacle Pioneers was expected to be the most competitive game of the night, despite the difference in seedings

And from the start of the game, each team threw punches at one another as if it was a heavyweight title fight. Throwing the first blow was Monsoon senior Jocelyn Chavez who knocked down a three point attempt from two steps behind the three point line to open up the scoring for both sides.

To counter Chavez’s production for the Monsoon, Pinnacle senior Mia Singstock responded with a three point make of her own, the first of six on her 32-point night in the 73-62 Pioneer victory.

Heading into halftime the back and forth battle between the two seniors had only gotten better as Chavez led all scorers with 16 and Singstock not far behind with 15 of her own.

The difference was early on was Valley Vista sophomore Tysyn Johnson, who knocked in two three pointers including a buzzer beater to end the first half that had the game deadlocked at 32.

“Tysyn shows up and works hard, her and Jocelyn will go at it in practice which I love because the majority of the time they’re on the floor together,” said Monsoon head coach Brooklynn Hinkens. 

The second half was when Pinnacle started to land some strong punches. The Pioneers, sparked by two Monsoon turnovers, started the third quarter on a 12-2  run and took a 15 point lead halfway through the quarter.

However, Chavez and senior center Emma Dasovich were able to convert two and-one attempts and cut the deficit to four. Behind a 7-0 run by Singstock, the deficit ballooned to nine for a 52-43 Pioneer lead heading into the fourth quarter.

“We realized we were down and that we needed to do everything we could to get back into the game. The way for us to do that was to stop the clock and get to the free throw line and get points quickly,” said Hinkens. 

To start the fourth quarter, the Monsoon fought back to get the deficit down to five with only a few minutes to go led by seven Chavez points and a three pointer by Dasovich. But after each Monsoon basket, the Pioneers would respond with a basket on the other end to stay in front comfortably. 

“The kids did a good job at fighting back. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough, we just couldn’t keep going. We’re a really young team so I’m looking forward to next year and the coming years as we build and grow from this moment” Hinkens said.

The biggest struggle for both the Monsoon and Pioneers down the stretch of the game was the inconsistency in foul calls which led to Hinkens getting a warning from the officiating crew.

“For the playoffs it’s pretty unfortunate when the officiating isn’t consistent on both sides. They were getting calls we weren’t getting and we were getting calls they weren’t getting, it’s hard to coach the kids when it’s inconsistent like that,” said Hinkens.

Down by five with four minutes left, Hinkens called a timeout to change the defensive strategy in order to avoid sending the Pioneers to the foul line. 

“We had to keep our man in front of us. If we allowed them to get by we put ourselves in a position for them to call a foul on us” Hinkens said.

In the end the adjustment wasn’t enough as with two minutes left, Singstock knocked down a three point attempt that put the game on ice and sealed a Pinnacle victory and an appearance in the Open Division Final Four. 

With the loss, the Monsoon’s consecutive championship streak ends at four straight and this will be the first season since 2015 that Valley Vista doesn’t appear in at least a semifinal.