Richard Obert

azcentral sports

PRESCOTT VALLEY – Two hours before tip-off, a line of Ganado fans, some wearing Coleman on the back of their maroon shirts, waited outside the Prescott Valley Event Center to cheer on their team.

It didn't matter when the 3A boys basketball quarterfinal started.

With 90 percent of the crowd inside the 5,100-seat arena from Ganado, fans making the near-four-hour drive, the team got the push it needed to beat Tucson Sabino 54-50 on Tuesday to advance to Friday's semifinals. That game, at Gila River Arena, will better accommodate the Navajo Nation.

"We've been in some barnburners," first-year Ganado coach Bob Wolk said. "The last couple of weeks helped us. We went through the first eight games of our 3A North and won them. Then, it got tougher. The target was on our back. A lot of people would come up to us. The No. 1 ranking. Everybody wants to knock us down. So here we are, a team that didn't expect to do anything.

"If you were going to tell me that these kids, who were 9-16 a year ago, are now 27-4, going to the final four, it would be like you and me going to the moon. Impossible. This is the first winning season this town has had I think since the year 2000. Somebody told me 1996. We just take one more step. I can't ask the kids for more."

But the Hornets feel they've got a couple of more steps left in them.

MORE: High school basketball playoffs schedule

On Friday at 7 p.m., Ganado will have to go through another school with a huge reservation following, Winslow. Winslow knocked off top seed Chandler Valley Christian 63-53 in the last quarterfinal.

No. 3 Fountain Hills – a 58-54 overtime winner over Florence – will meet No. 7 Phoenix Northwest Christian – a 63-50 winner over No. 2 Lakeside Blue Ridge – in Friday's 3:30 p.m. semifinal.

Three girls teams from the reservation also made the semifinals at Gila River Arena on Friday, when No. 2 Page plays No. 3 Chinle at 1:45 and No. 4 Holbrook takes on No. 1 Valley Christian at 5:15.

One of the big reasons coaching at Ganado intrigued Wolk was the stories he heard about the huge Navajo Nation turnout. He can't wait to experience it.

Senior Jamaal Coleman, a 6-foot-8 legend on the reservation, said the fans helped Ganado on Wednesday after Sabino made four of its 10 3-pointers in the third quarter and led 42-39 heading into the final eight minutes.

"I didn't expect (the arena) to be filled out that much," Coleman said "That gave us a lot of motivation."

RELATED: Ganado big man Jamaal Coleman a 'rock star' on the reservation

Coleman's only shot attempt in the first half was a put-back, as the Hornets fell behind 26-22 with sophomore Blake Rustand knocking down 4 of 5 3-pointers.

Coleman became more involved offensively in the second half, finishing with 12 points. His three-point play with 3:39 left gave Ganado a 46-44 lead.

With 38 seconds left, Coleman rebounded a miss and scored to give his team a 51-50 lead.

A travel turned the ball back over to Ganado, and Justin Curley made two free throws with 13 seconds left. A missed 3 by Ganado put Daryl Lincoln at the line and he sealed it with 1 of 2 free throws with two seconds to play.

Sabino (18-12), which had a 10-game winning streak snapped, tightened up in the final quarter when it started out in a four-corner offense to try to work clock and didn't score Deontae Beckwith's 3 with 2:30 left.

MORE: High school boys basketball semifinals: Analysis, predictions

Ganado has been in close games all season and has found ways to close.

Since mid-December, it has been in nine games decided by eight or fewer points, winning seven of those.

"We never give up," Curley said. "That's our mentality. That's how we were born. That's how we were raised."

Coleman doesn't want to jump ahead and start celebrating anything. But he wants badly to close his career out as a champion for the Navajo reservation.

"I have to stay humble for the people around me and for my teammates," Coleman said. "I can't forget where I came from. ... I have to go out and represent in a positive way."

Suggest human interest stories to Richard Obert atrichard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him at azc_obert.