It was down by ten points in the third quarter and never led until the final bucket. In the end, Torrance Begay rescued two-time defending champ Page against American Leadership Academy Gilbert North.

The post player scored eight of her team-high 17 points Friday in the final two minutes, helping secure a 37-35 Page win and an appearance in the 3A final. The team will return to Veterans Memorial Coliseum’s floor Saturday for the 6 p.m. title tilt against No. 1 Sabino.

“It was hard,” Begay said. “Coach (Ryan) Whitehorse said it wasn’t going to come to us easy. We started off slow, but in the end we finally finished.”

Begay’s drives to the basket were successful near the end.

The game’s final basket came when Begay received a tipped pass, dribbled to her right and converted with two defenders on her.

After an ALA Gilbert North timeout with 7.3 seconds left, Page’s Miquedah Taliman clinched the victory when she gained possession of the ball along with an ALA Gilbert North player. The possession arrow favored Page, which eventually ran out the clock.

“They call this place (Veterans Memorial Coliseum) the Mad House for a reason,” Whitehorse said. “The girls couldn't hear themselves think out there. But it was a big learning experience for us. If we are able to overcame things in a game like this, we should be able to do the same thing (Saturday).”

Whitehorse’s 2019-20 squad isn’t as experienced as its previous two teams.

When it comes to basketball years, ALA Gilbert North (20-5) is also relatively young. This was its first official season as an Arizona Interscholastic Association member.

The Gilbert team, which made 5 of 6 threes, was led by Keeli Kaye (11 points) and Tiffany Quigley (11 rebounds). For No. 2 seed Page (25-5), Begay made 7 of her 13 attempts despite being in foul trouble.

Her teammates, Camryn Nockideneh and Emma Yazzie, scored a combined 15 points. Page also scored 14 second chance points.