PRESCOTT — No. 1 and 2-ranked Valley Christian and Fountain Hills may sport a 39-1 combined record this season, but a few northern Arizona schools are starting to make some noise with just three weeks left before state playoff time in the desert.

HOLBROOK

For instance, Holbrook, which defeated rival Winslow 60-46 on Thursday night, has now won 13 of their past 15 contests.

Quentin Thomas scored 18 points on five 3-pointers to lead the Roadrunners (16-4, 2-1 3A East), which made it to the 3A final four a season ago.

Brandon Tapaha, who leads Holbrook in scoring this season at 15.9 points per game, scored 13 points on three 3-pointers and had three rebounds and three assists in the Winslow victory.

Holbrook lost to Fountain Hills on Nov. 25, 67-31, and more recently to Valley Christian, 81-50 on Jan. 7.

Key remaining games: Jan. 24 vs. Snowflake; Jan. 28 at Blue Ridge; Feb. 3 vs. Winslow; Feb. 4 vs. Monument Valley; Feb. 8 at Snowflake.

BLUE RIDGE

Blue Ridge, which sits at No. 10 in the power point rankings as of Friday, Jan. 20, beat Holbrook 63-60 in overtime on Jan. 10, but has since lost to Winslow (54-50, Jan. 13) and Payson (43-35, Jan. 19).

The Yellow Jackets (11-5, 1-1 3A East) have solid wins against Show Low (51-44), Chinle (63-42) and Alchesay (64-46) so far this season.

Key remaining games: Jan. 24 at Show Low; Jan. 27 vs. Snowflake; Jan. 28 vs. Holbrook; Jan. 31 at Winslow; Feb. 8 vs. Show Low; Feb. 9 at Snowflake.

MONUMENT VALLEY

Monument Valley (16-2, 6-0 3A North), ranked No. 3 overall, hasn’t lost a power point game all season (11-0) and have won 12 of 13 contests.

A big reason why the Mustangs have been successful this season is 6-foot-1 senior guard Albrandon ByJoe, who averages 21.3 points per game as one of the top scorers in the state. He’s also the top rebounder on his club with 6.5 per game.

Key remaining games: Jan. 28 at Alchesay; Feb. 3 vs. Chinle; Feb. 4 at Holbrook.

SNOWFLAKE

The No. 8-ranked Lobos (13-3, 3-0 3A East) have big victories against Alchesay (53-49, Nov. 29), Winslow (52-32, Dec. 20), Seton Catholic (44-43, Dec. 29), Monument Valley (73-62, Dec. 30) and Winslow again in their own gym on Jan. 10, 55-49.

Snowflake also played a tough Scottsdale Christian club down to the wire, but lost 56-55.

Scottsdale Christian (11-6, 5-1 3A North Central), ranked No. 9 under head coach John Anderson, a former player who helped the Eagles win two state championships more than two decades ago, lost a tough one to Fountain Hills (56-34, Dec. 14) and kept it close against Valley Christian in a 69-56 loss Jan. 13.

The Lobos have won eight of nine and are led by Matthew Brimhall (13.3 ppg), a 6-foot, 200-pound senior who helped the football team win two of the last three state championships.

Key remaining games: Jan. 24 at Holbrook; Jan. 27 at Blue Ridge; Feb. 1 at Chinle; Feb. 8 vs. Holbrook; Feb. 9 vs. Blue Ridge.

OTHER 3A TEAMS TO WATCH

No. 12 Page (12-7, 6-2 3A North); Jan. 24 at Monument Valley.

No. 13 Chinle (14-7, 5-2 3A North); Jan. 21 vs. Ganado.

No. 18 Show Low (10-11, 1-1 3A East); Jan. 20 at Snowflake.

STATE PLAYOFFS

The 3A state playoffs are unique in that 24 teams qualify for the bracket, unlike 6A, 5A, 4A, 2A and 1A where 16 teams fill a four-round playoff bracket. However, those aforementioned conferences do host a “State Play-In” round, usually including eight clubs, whereas the 3A does not.

This season’s 3A bracket will see the high seed host the first two rounds on Feb. 15 and 18, then the quarterfinals are set for Feb. 21 at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley.

The state semifinals and finals are scheduled for the Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix on Feb. 24-25.

See azpreps365.com for brackets by Feb. 13. For more information on ticket prices and other conference state playoff dates and times, visit https://azpreps365.com/championships/basketball-boys.

Brian M. Bergner Jr. has covered professional, collegiate and high school sports for more than 20 years. Follow him on Twitter @AzPreps365Brian. Have a story idea? Email Brian at bbergner@azpreps365.com.