MESA – Led by freshman phenom, Jaz Olivar, the Fort Thomas Lady Apaches cruised to the 1A State Championship on Tuesday night at Dobson High School with a 56-29 victory over Mogollon.
Mogollon had upset the 4th seed and the #1 seed en route to their championship game appearance but #2 Fort Thomas picked the right time to put on their best performance of the season.
Olivar led all scorers with 19 points. She led the team in scoring, assists and steals during the regular season as well.
Fort Thomas led 15-9 at the end of the first quarter and that was the closest the score would be for the rest of the night. The Lady Apaches ballooned their halftime lead to 34-20 and never looked back.
The defense took over in the 2nd half as Fort Thomas held Mogollon to just 9 second half points to take the game 56-29.
Fort Thomas finished the season with a 21-2 record. This is the first girl’s basketball championship since 2006 when they defeated Pima in the title game.
In the understatement of the year, Head Coach Lee Haws said, “The girls played awesome tonight.” Haws won his 300th game as head coach earlier this year and now has a state championship trophy to add to it.
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