PHOENIX — Ethan Stokes had a double-double, Matthew Quinlan dropped 15 points on three 3-pointers and Rancho Solano Prep. was able to get over the title-drought hump with a 53-44 win in the 2A state championship against Fountain Hills on Saturday.

The Mustangs (19-11, 7-1 2A Central) had lost in all three of their previous championship game appearances, including a 69-54 defeat at the hands of San Tan Charter a season ago.

Scottsdale Christian also beat them in back-to-back title games in 2021 and 2022. San Tan Charter made it to the Final Four of the Open Copper Division before losing a week ago to No. 2-ranked Gilbert Christian in overtime, 73-72.

Stokes scored 12 points on 5 of 11 shooting from the field but grabbed 13 rebounds in a dominant performance on the boards. His 10 defensive rebounds were four more than any other Fountain Hills player had in total.

“That’s been the key for us all season, when we compete hard defensively and consistently, we’ve been tough to beat,” Rancho Solano coach Aaron Trigg said about his team’s effort on the defensive side of the floor, including Stokes’ ability to rebound the basketball.

The Mustangs held Fountain Hills to just 44.7% shooting (17-38), including a 5 for 15 mark from beyond the arc.

“It was great to see [our defense] show up today. We were focused defensively, and we competed really hard. We made the extra little plays that you can’t script, and the boys found a way to get the job done,” Trigg said.

Rancho Solano jumped out to a 11-3 lead after the first quarter, but in the second half, Fountain Hills (22-8, 6-2 2A Central) made their run, cutting the Mustang lead to five, 29-24, at the 1:20 mark of the third quarter on an And-1 by Ahren Lloyd, who pumped his fist in excitement after the big play.

Stokes answered right back with a 3-pointer from the corner, extending Rancho Solano’s lead to 34-24.

“It starts with competing. Basketball is a game of runs, they are going to make their runs, but it’s what you can do to weather the storm and swing right back,” Stokes said after just handing over the 2A state championship trophy to a teammate during pictures.

Fountain Hills cut the lead to six, 44-38, with 3:10 to play in the game, but the Mustangs went on 9-6 run to claim the program’s third title in eight years, having won in 2018 and 2020.

Quinlan, who was 4 of 11 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers, said he knew that if they were able to hold Fountain Hills in the “30s” that they were going to win for sure.

The Falcons outscored Rancho Solano 19-16 over the final 8 minutes but couldn’t get over the hump.

"Now, we didn’t do that, but we held them to a level that we were able to score [enough] in the second half. That allowed us to really pull away with the game,” Quinlan said, adding that a 55-51 loss to Camp Verde in early February sparked something special.

“In the locker room [after that game], we all got together, wrote down what we think we needed to do to make us a better team. We came up with three things: play harder, play together and have fun,” Quinlan said. “We were able to do those three things the rest of the season and that helped us progress.”

Rancho Solano was 10 of 15 from the charity stripe, while Fountain Hills managed a 5 for 13 mark, and the Mustangs scored 17 points off turnovers and outrebounded the Falcons 29-23 to earn the victory.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on X at @AzPreps365Brian or on Facebook at @Five2MediaWorks. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.