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The 21st-seeded Hawks kept it close for the first 16 minutes but No. 12 Fountain Hills used a 27-point third quarter to pull away for an 80-50 win at home, eliminating Tanque Verde in the opening round of the Division III state tournament. The other Southern Arizona team in action was Bisbee, which lost to Thatcher 50-44. That leaves Palo Verde as the only local team remaining.

“It’s just a tremendous amount of effort it takes to get to the top 24,� Tanque Verde coach Mark Gaxiola said. “Anybody that’s playing in the state tournament, they know that. It’s deserving and it’s earned; nobody gets here just because they want to get here.�

Gabe Gaxiola, a four-year starter and the area’s leading scorer, finished with a team-high 21 points — 11 of which came in the first quarter — and fellow senior Ajay Robertson had 13 for the Hawks, who trailed by just two points at halftime. But a 14-0 run by Fountain Hills to open up the second half put the game out of reach.

Senior big man Austin Keating caused a matchup nightmare, Mark Gaxiola said, as he scored a game-high 27 points for the Falcons, most of which came in the second half.

“They exploited one of our issues we had against bigger teams,� Mark Gaxiola said. “We’ve got five guards out there.�

The Hawks (17-10) won eight of their final 10 games heading into the night, which helped them qualify for the state tournament for the first time since the 2010-11 season. It was the last high school season for Gabe Gaxiola, who will likely end up playing for Cochise College next year.

“We’ve had a ton of adversity but this was definitely a memorable season for me,� said Gabe Gaxiola, who averaged 24.9 points a game. “I’m going to miss it all.�