The 2023-24 Valley Christian Trojans may wind up as one of the state’s best boys basketball teams in small school history.

Their coach, Greg Haagsma, is bound to join the list of the state’s coaching greats.

But he wasn't thinking about his legacy after his team defeated Gilbert Christian Saturday 81-65 to capture a 3A three-peat at Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“That doesn’t matter,” said Haagsma about his success. “It’s for these guys, and we wanted the three-peat for them. I have years to sit back and look at that stuff later. But for me the nervousness is always because I feel so much for these kids.”

Haagsma won’t soon forget what his boys accomplished during their three-year reign.

They became just the second 3A program in Arizona Interscholastic Association history to win three in a row, going 57-2 against 3A teams during that span.  

The small school dynasty has now won nine titles, all under Haagsma, who is the state’s active career coaching win leader with 755. Six Valley Christian seniors will graduate as champs, including Luke Shaw, who finally looked healthy after dealing with some injuries.

Haagsma said his star isn’t yet fully 100 percent, but Gilbert Christian may disagree. The 6-3 guard went 11-20 from the field for 29 points and nine assists in his final high school game.

The next two leading scorers in the game for Valley Christian also are graduating this year, Jake Harrison (16 points) and Austin Wallace (13 points).

“It’s (three-peating) definitely amazing,” Shaw said. “From that first year, when we had that feeling, we always wanted to feel it again. Coming back here and getting that three-peat has been a blessing.”

The numbers say 29-2 Valley Christian dominated, but it didn’t exactly cakewalk its way to the title this year.

It was down by double digits in the semifinals, and Gilbert Christian was in the game up until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, when it trailed 58-53.

Gilbert Christian post player Lopemi Omole gave Valley Christian fits at times. The 6-4 senior blocked six of the 3A champ’s shots and also finished with 10 boards and 13 points.

Keon Talgo (18 points) and Jace Olson (16 points) went a combined 7 for 12 from beyond the arc for the runner-up, who finished 23-6. But Haagsma's squad shot 50 percent, and his taller lineup outrebounded Gilbert Christian 41-28.

“They (Gilbert Christian) are a very, very good team,” Haagsma said. “They match us really, really well. We are just a little bit more experienced at this point. We have some kids that really battled. It’s nothing we are doing here. The kids are just battling, and they are warriors, diving on the floor and hitting big shots.”