The first and fourth were both impressive feats.

Valley Christian, the favorite from the outset to win the first ever Copper trophy for small schools, completed its mission Saturday at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum. With their 70-49 victory over Gilbert Christian, the Trojans also four-peated, becoming the fourth Arizona program to do so.

“It’s awesome to be the first team ever (to win the Copper),” Valley Christian’s Carson Grier said.

Get to the basket.

That was the game plan for the 6-8 Grier, who delivered a 20-point performance for his team, helping his squad outscore Gilbert Christian 36-20 in the paint. His twin brother, Kyle, led the Trojans with nine rebounds.

“It’s all I can ask for,” Carson said. “To do it with him (Kyle). I do everything with him. I love him, but I love all of the boys on my team. They are like brothers to me.”

The five seniors on the team, including Justin Garcia, Caleb Danzeisen and Tyler Clough, never lost at VMC. Gilbert Christian led once in the game, when freshman Colin Burke’s high arcing three handed his team a 9-8 first period advantage.

But Garcia countered with three threes in the second quarter to help his team start pulling away. A junior, Colby Jessup, as he’s done all season long, also stepped up for Valley Christian, especially when his team was in some foul trouble early in the game.

Jessup (17 points) and Carson played a team-high 30:55 minutes. This was the 10th time that the Trojans faced Gilbert Christian in the past four seasons, with Valley Christian winning every contest, including last year’s 3A title game.

In the Copper semifinals, Gilbert Christian (21-8) defeated the team, San Tan Charter, that was a favorite to reach the Copper final this year.

As some of Gilbert Christian’s starters were exiting the game in the final seconds, including senior Jace Olson (21 points), their fans gave them a well-deserved ovation. Gilbert Christian was one of only two schools left standing in the Copper out of 142 1-3A schools that had a chance to reach the tournament.

Gilbert Christian made its eighth state title appearance Saturday. (Jose Garcia photo/AZPreps365)

For Valley Christian, it’s 10-1 during its state title appearances and finished its 2024-25 campaign with a 26-3 record. It has not lost to an Arizona 1-3A school since Feb. 6, 2023.

“The pressure was really honestly on these kids,” said Valley Christian coach/athletic director Greg Haagsma, who is in his 36th year coaching and teaching at his school. “I wanted it badly for these seniors. I know the four-peat meant a lot to them. It probably meant a lot more to them than it did to me. I get to come back every year and do it again.”

Haagsma does lose some important pieces, but the veteran usually finds a way to keep his teams in contention.

“There’s always a target on your back, especially when you’ve won three in a row, and four now,” Carson said. “There will be another target on their back next year. But it’s fun. It’s fun being chased by everybody."