Palo Verde. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

No. 11 Pusch Ridge beat No. 5 Palo Verde 69-46 to win the 3A Conference state championship played at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. Palo Verde knocked off No. 1 Benjamin Franklin 52-24 in the semifinal round on Friday and Pusch Ridge beat No. 2 Florence 55-53 to set up the championship game.

Isaac Hardeman scored eight straight points to end the first quarter and his outburst gave the Lions a 15-6 lead heading into the second quarter and the Titans were unable to climb back into the game. Hardeman finished with a game-high 24 points.

Pusch Ridge led 35-20 at the half and 52-28 after three. The Lions shot 45 percent for the game (25-55) including 10 of 17 from three, while the Titans struggled from the field (17-50), especially 3-17 from beyond the arc. Palo Verde beat Pusch Ridge 51-48 in region play on Jan. 17 in stark contrast to the championship final.

Besides the 24 from Hardeman, Noah McKinney added 15, Santino Almazan scored nine and Ben Lambe scored eight. For Palo Verde, Kameron Pippen scored 16, Daniel Ortiz added nine and Julian Blackburne scored seven.

This was the first state championship for the Lions and the second runner-up finish for the Titans. Pusch Ridge took second place in 2019.