Koa Peat's board work saves Perry in Open semi win over Desert Mountain before big crowd

It was a longer wait than usual for Gilbert Perry to put an opponent away.

Finally, 6-foot-8 sophomore Koa Peat took over. He got one putback after another after another, leading the top-ranked high school team in Arizona to a 64-50 victory Friday night in an Open Division state semifinal game before an overflow crowd at Gilbert Highland High School.

After freshman Kalek House scored to cut it to 42-38 with more than four minutes left in the third quarter, Desert Mountain got stuck on 38 until 4:52 remained in the game. By then, Perry was up 52-40 on a 3 by 6-8 senior Cody Williams, a great heads-up, back-door bounce pass from Peat to Williams to close the third quarter, and a dagger 3 by Barron Silsby with 6:13 left.

"The constant all year has been the defense," Perry coach Sam Duane Jr., said. "They had 38 points at one point."

For a long time.

Now Perry moves into a March 4 state championship game against No. 10-seed Phoenix Sunnyslope at Arizona Veterans Memorial Colisum.

Here are three takeaways from the semifinal game:

Incredible atmosphere

Highland has one of the larger high school gyms in the Valley. But it wasn't big enough to hold a game of this magnitude. With the star power of Peat and Williams, both 5-star recruits, and the House twins, 6-3 freshman sensations Kaden and Kalek, it was inevitable Highland's gym would fill up. It was full a half hour before the game. And many people were standing in the aisles just in order to squeeze in and watch the game.

The temperature was hot in the gym, and the play was electric to start. Peat scored quickly after winning the tip from Kaden House. Then, Kaden House answered with a long 3 as Cody Williams was moving back into the paint, respecing House's attacking abilities.

House was sensational, but he and his brother ran out of gas at the end with shots coming short, and Peat and Williams altering their shots in the paint, making it tough for them to score.

"They play hard, they rebound hard, they were definitely hard to guard," Williams said of the House brothers.

Perry's stifling defense

Williams turned the ball over on three straight possessions to start the second half.

Desert Mountain cut the score to 36-34 on a steal and a layup by Kalek House. A dunk by Kaden House along the baseline had the Desert Mountain student section roaring with 5:01 left in the quarter to keep it a two-point game.

But Peat went to work. He scored on two straight put-backs. He finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds.

Desert Mountain freshman big man Tony Cumberland, a top 2026 football prospect as a 6-5, 250-pound offensive lineman with an offer from Ohio State, picked up his fourth foul with 2:33 left in the quarter and Perry leading 42-38. He went to the bench. Williams then hit a three and Desert Mountain went scoreless in the final 4:30 of the quarter.

"We wanted to limit them going to the foujl line," Duane said. "I don't think they were expecting how good our defense was. Our plan was to keep them off the foul line and make them beat us on the 3."

The back-door pass by Peat to Williams and the 3 by Silsby, his first of the game, were huge. Peat ended up with 21 points and 13 rebounds, seven of those on the offensive end.

"That's a huge pass by Koa," Duane said. "That's unselfishness"

Kaden House had 20 points and Kalek 14.

Williams and Peat had help. And it came with No No Brown playing well, DeAndre Harrison attacking the rim and playing tough defense, and Silsby dialing up a big 3.

"My teammates always look for me," Silsby said. "When they're sagging off on Koa and Cody, it opens it up."

Finishing the deal

This is the first time the Arizona Interscholastic Association has had the 32-team state tournament for the three big conferences.

But it's going to be two 6A schools meeting in the end. It will pit the two 5-star recruits in Peat and Williams against Sunnyslope's four freshmen, led by John Mattingly and Rider Portela, coach Ray Portela's son.

Sunnyslope blew out Chandler Basha 70-47 at Glendale Apollo in the other semifinal. Mattingly and Rider Portela led the way with 21 and 12 points, respectively. JaiAnthoni Bearden added 11 points.

To suggest human-interest story ideas and other news, reach Obert at richard.obert@arizonarepublic.com or 602-316-8827. Follow him on Twitter @azc_obert

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Koa Peat saves Perry in Open semi win over Desert Mountain