Down 32-31, Will Menaugh hit a bucket and a free throw to put Catalina Foothills up 34-32 to start the fourth quarter and then Carson Peabody hit a 3 and it looked like the Falcons were on their way to controlling what would have been an outright 4A Kino Region championship at Salpointe Friday night but the Lancers had other plans.

The Lancers found themselves down 37-32 with 5:53 left with the possibility of dropping out of the top four in the 4A Conference.

“I told the guys to get a stop on each play,” Jordan Gainey explained. “Let’s get three stops in a row and the offense will take care of itself.”

The Lancers got more than three stops down the stretch and the offense did take care of itself to the tune of a 16-2 run to win the game 48-39. Gainey scored two of his game-high 16 points in the run and Evan Nelson added five of his 13 points but Grant Weitman poured in eight of his 13 to fuel the comeback.

Menaugh finished with 11 points, Carson Peabody added nine and Charlie Curtis scored eight to lead the Falcons. Curtis scored two 3-pointers in the first quarter but the Lancers battled back from an early 9-4 deficit to tie the game up at 12-12 after the first quarter.

“We need to clean up our offense a bit,” Curtis said. “We were a bit messy and we need to work on our rebounding. We hope to see Salpointe in the playoffs again.”

Catalina Foothills (16-1 in power-ranking games) is 8-1 in the Kino Region and Salpointe (16-1) is also 8-1 after the programs split the season series with wins at home. Salpointe will host No. 32 Vista Grande (6-11) on Tuesday, Feb. 11 and Catalina Foothills will host No. 21 Sahuaro (9-8) on the same night. The two programs will end in a region tie with victories but the Falcons will get the automatic playoff berth due to a better conference record but that’s a moot point with both teams currently ranked in the top four.

Unless something crazy happens, the two programs should finish the regular season ranked in the top four for the third time in modern history. The two programs finished in the top four under the old system prior to 2003 but they competed in different conferences. Salpointe was No. 2 in 2017 and Catalina Foothills was No. 3. And the Lancers eliminated the Falcons 57-55 in the 4A semifinal round that year.

Salpointe was the top seed in 2014 and Catalina Foothills finished No. 4 but a quirk in the process gave region champions higher seeding so the Falcons entered the playoffs as a 9-seed rather than No. 4. The result was a 2-point Second Round loss to state power Shadow Mountain. The Lancers would fall to Shadow Mountain in the next round.

A top-four ranking would guarantee two home playoff games as long as the team with the “super-ranking” wins the first game. Peoria (17-0) holds the top spot but the Panthers were upset in the first round by Mesquite last year. Playoff games cannot be taken for granted.

“As long as we stick together ang go win by win we will be fine,” Gainey added. “We can’t go our separate ways.”

The Falcons need to refocus on each game ahead as well.

“Our chemistry is tight,” Curtis added. “We hold each other accountable and everyone is together.”

(Will Menaugh goes up for a shot/Andy Morales/AZPreps365.com)