PRESCOTT — Cameron Williams scored 25 points, Caspian Jones added 22 and St. Mary’s will get a shot at the program’s fifth title after a 70-64 win over Prescott in the 4A state semifinals Monday night.

It is the fifth win in six games for the No. 3-seeded Knights (17-12, 8-2 4A Desert Sky), which have a date with No. 4 Deer Valley for the championship at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday.

Back in December, St. Mary’s opened the 2024-25 season in Prescott (22-7, 12-0 4A Grand Canyon), coming away with a 68-50 loss that has stayed with the team for months, but on Monday night, they Knights made it right.

“Last time we came up here, we weren’t ready to play and we lost. … Our main mantra was to come ready to play, stay focused,” Williams said, adding that he did his best to keep his teammates calm during a late-game frenzy by the Badgers.

“You have to learn to control the pace and keep everybody calm, and that’s what being a leader is. You have to step up and take on that role,” Williams said.

The 6-foot-11 junior had a big offensive put back for a bucket with 14 seconds left in the third quarter to put the Knights up 54-44, but Prescott wouldn’t go away.

With 2:35 to play, Uriah Tenette hit a jumper from 15 feet to cut St. Mary’s lead to one, 62-61. Williams hit his own jumper from 18 feet to stretch the lead to five, but Cooper Magnett knocked down a big 3-pointer from the top of the key as the Badgers trailed 66-64 game with 1:07 left.

Williams once again grabbed another big offensive rebound and with a put back, made it 68-65 with 45 seconds left as the Knights turned up the heat defensively and Prescott was unable to overcome.

“We got the stops when we needed to. … For us to bend a little bit, then they come down and hit a big three. My gosh, they hit so many big threes at the end there, but we never faltered. We stuck with the plan,” St. Mary’s coach Damin Lopez said. “We defended the heck out of them the last few positions, which was ultimately the difference in the game.”

Tenette finished with 31 points, 20 of which came in the first half for the senior UC-San Diego commit.

Prescott coach Travis Stedman said his club struggled to control the weak-side glass in the second half.

“Let’s be honest, the last two possessions we gave up the shot we wanted to, a contested three at the top of the key, it was a missed shot, and we didn’t clear the glass,” Stedman said. “That was kind of the M.O. in the second half. We gave up too many paint touches off of offensive rebounds. When you’re playing against a big team and you don’t do the body work early, you give up some easy layups.”

Lopez said Williams, who’s reportedly had offers from college programs such as Arizona, USC, Texas and Notre Dame, is an “unbelievable” player.

“He’s developed so much in the two years that he’s been here, and he keeps getting better. He’s just scratching the surface,” Lopez said. “I tell people this all the time, his athleticism hasn’t caught up with him yet. … When he grows into his body, as crazy as it sounds, he’s going to be an even more dynamic player than he is now.”

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.