Valley Christian, Cortez, Scottsdale Christian and Fountain Hills have waged some hard fought battles over the years, and the quartet was at it again during the start of their sectional tournament.

The intrigue this season with the Division III Section III foes is that they are Final 4 state tournament material. Division III Section IV’s Snowflake also is a state title contender, but it was upset by section mate Blue Ridge in their sectional tournament game Wednesday, when Cortez and Fountain Hills squared off for the second time this season, and Scottsdale Christian and Valley Christian met for the third time since Jan. 3.

There’s no quit in Scottsdale Christian and its venerable coach Bob Fredericks, but Valley Christian pulled away from its rival again, this time with a 61-51 win at Washington High.

Fountain Hills and Cortez played another high paced game with a near identical score as their first game, a 73-63 Cortez victory.

Cortez had a 10-point lead late in the game, but had to hold off a late rally by Fountain Hills. Christian Hakilimali and Trevan Newman scored a combined 49 points for 20-4 Cortez.

Valley Christian and Scottsdale Christian each depend on balanced scoring performances to succeed. Valley Christian received just that, with five players each scoring in double figures, including inside-outside threat Mitchell Timmer (19 points).

Scottsdale Christian trailed by as many as 12 points in the second half but closed to within four points (43-39) after Sam Ortega converted a steal into an easy bucket. But Valley Christian (24-6) pushed the lead up to nine points in the fourth period.

Scottsdale Christian made another run, however, to grab its first lead, 49-48, since being up 3-2. But down the stretch Valley Christian took advantage of Scottsdale Christian’s failed attempts from three point land.

“Beating Scottsdale Christian three times in a season is an honor, because that’s a great program,” Valley Christian coach Greg Haagsma.

Haagsma’s team and Cortez will meet at 7 p.m. Saturday at Washington High with an automatic top-6 seed and first round bye in the state tournament at stake.