Hope is maybe the best of things for the Sedona Red Rock High School girls basketball team going into the first round of the Division III state tournament Wednesday, Feb. 18.

Hope inspired the Scorpions to an upset, in double overtime, of fourth-ranked Camp Verde High School in their Section III tournament in Phoenix.

“I just asked them all to close their eyes and visualize what we do that makes us successful,” head coach Joe Donaldson recalled what he told the team during a full time out in the first overtime. “Nobody wants to make a mistake.

“Whoever has the mental advantage will win. The girls gained it based on the shots we made, and we stayed positive.”

Hope kept SRRHS [18-9] going after it could have been extinguished by two double-digit losses to Valley Christian High School — including a 64-24 blowout Saturday, Feb. 14, in the sectional championship game.

The top-ranked Trojans had a combined margin of victory 11 points greater than the Scorpions’ total number of points scored in both contests.

“There was no body language that suggested they were going to give up,” assistant coach Frank Garcia said. “They just rolled up their sleeves and got to work. It was an honor and a privilege to watch.”

But if hope truly never dies, it will have kept the season alive for the 17th-ranked Scorpions, who have a third matchup at top-ranked, undefeated VCHS awaiting them Saturday, Feb. 21, if they can win their first-round game at No. 16 seed Many Farms High School [19-8].

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Feb. 18, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.