Tempe Marcos de Niza knocked off top-seeded Phoenix North, 71-68, in double overtime to advance to the 5A Division II boys state basketball final at Jobing.com Arena on Wednesday.
"We had eight games go against us by one or two points," Padre coach David Stark said. "Now they're going our way."
The 13th-seeded Padres (15-16) will play Tucson Ironwood Ridge in the championship game at 4 p.m. Friday in Glendale.
The Padres hit 7 of 9 free throws in the second overtime and forced three turnovers to take the win.
Harrison Evens scored all eight of the Padres' points in the first overtime with driving shots in the paint, including one to tie with 30 seconds left. He couldn't connect on another at the buzzer. Evens finished with a game-high 35 points.
Evens said he had only one thing on his mind. "Not to lose," the senior said. "It was easy to get to the hole."
Evens hit a driving layup with 30 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 54. Daniel Bejarano fouled out on the play, but Evens couldn't convert the free throw and the game went to overtime.
Trailing by 11 at the half, North (20-10) put together a 12-2 run over the final three minutes to trail 40-39 going into the final period. The Mustangs' shots began to drop while the Padres didn't show much patience on offense. Evens ended Marcos' drought with a fast-break layup with 13 seconds to go in the third quarter but Robert Arivizu hit a 3, just North's second of the game after missing eight in a row, to bring the Mustangs within one going into the final period.
Marcos dominated the first half, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds - six in the first period - blocking five shots and turning three steals into baskets.
North's only lead in the first half came on Bejarano's 3 at 6:27 for a 3-2 lead. The state's leading 3-point shooter missed his next two and the Mustangs missed five in a row from the perimeter.
Evens sparked a 10-0 run to end the first period, hitting Daniel Johnson for two assists and scoring off a steal to give Marcos a 16-5 lead.
The Padres led by 15 in the second period after Ryan Bawek hit a pair of free throws at 2:42 to make the score 26-11.
North narrowed the gap in the final minutes, Bejarano driving for two, then Lewis Shabaz hit both ends of a one-and-one and scored on an assist from Chris Cairez.
In the first semifinal game, No. 3 Ironwood Ridge (26-6) cruised to an 75-31 win over 15th-seeded Yuma Kofa (21-11).
