It was an uphill battle all the way for Corona del Sol on Wednesday night in its bid to reach the finals of the McClintock Holiday Shootout. And it took help from more players than usual to make up what once was a 14-point deficit in the second period.

The Aztecs finally took the lead with a little more than four minutes left and hung on to edge Brophy, 53-47, at McClintock High School.

Corona del Sol (9-2) meets Mountain Ridge (3-9) for the tournament title Thursday night at 7. Mountain Ridge, which entered the tournament 0-9, won its third straight game with a come-from-behind 46-40 win over Basha in the other semifinal. Brophy, which got 10 points off the bench from James Harper, dropped just its third game in 11 outings.

Corona del Sol freshman guard Casey Benson scored 12 of his game-high 14 points in the second half for the main impetus for the Aztecs' rally. Reserves Bryan Siefker, Braden Tennyson and  Nick Siefker combined to make 5-of-7 free throws  in the final minutes to help Corona keep a 4-5 point-lead in the final four minutes.

"That's the fourth time this year we've been behind by 10 or more in the first half," a relieved Corona del Sol coach Sammy Duane Jr. said. "We've managed to win all of them, but I don't like doing it that way."

A combination of foul trouble and better-than-average shooting from the field by Brophy in the first half, pushed the Broncos to a 27-13 lead at one point in the second quarter and 30-19 at halftime. Brophy made 11-of-19 shots from the field in the first half. The Broncos got a lift off the bench from Mike Hauser, who scored all eight of his points in the second period. Two of his three field goals were 3s.

Corona's leading scorer Calaen Robinson picked up three fouls in the first 4 1/2 minutes and ended up sitting more than playing the first 16 minutes. Robinson had a miserable night shooting even when he was on the floor, making just 3-of-16 shots. He finished with 10 points before fouling out with 39 seconds left.  he The Aztecs also had inside threat Avery Moss in foul trouble. Moss sat most of the second quarter after picking up his third foul. He scored two points in the first half and finished with nine.