On the outside, Jacob Ekre appeared cool, calm and collected.

On the inside, it was a different story.

“Oh, for sure,” he said when asked if he was nervous when he stepped to the free throw line with the 2A boys basketball state championship on the line Saturday. “My legs were shaking like crazy.”

The senior was fouled behind the three point line with .4 left on St. John Paul II’s clock with his team trailing 48-47.

With Rancho Solano Prep’s fans doing all they could to rattle him, Ekre, a 55 percent free throw shooter, made all three of his attempts. After Rancho Solano Prep’s desperation heave missed its mark, Scottsdale Christian’s players rushed to their hero’s side to celebrate their 49-48 title victory.

“It’s unreal,” Ekre said. “I’m so happy for my team. I had full confidence in them, and they had full confidence in me. And that’s why we won.”

Ekre delivered on the foul line and elsewhere, leading his team in points with 17 and rebounds with seven.

“It couldn’t have happened to a better kid,” Scottsdale Christian’s first-year coach John Anderson said. “That was the best game of his life, and he saved it for the last game of his career. I’m so happy for Jacob. I can’t imagine being in a situation where you have to knock down three free throws to win a state championship. People write books about that. You never think you are going to be in that situation. To see him walk up there and knock them down was pretty awesome. It’s a memory for life.”

Scottsdale Christian needed every point from its players to defeat a Rancho Solano team that was knocking down its shots at a high percentage in the first half.

Scottsdale Christian (19-1) may have been the No. 1 tournament seed, but Rancho Solano Prep (19-4) was the defending champ and played like it in the first two periods. It converted seven of its first half 13 shots beyond the arc, including a Michael Dienes trey just before the second quarter ended.

“Hats off to Rancho,” Anderson said. “They were in control of the entire game. They played a phenomenal game. We made big plays when we needed to. The guys believed in each other.”

Royce Ramos (13 points) and Evan Punches (10 points) also made life difficult for Scottsdale Christian.

Scottsdale Christian started to turn the tables in the third quarter, when it tallied five threes and outscored Rancho Solano 17-8. In the fourth quarter, Matthew Fan (14 points) scored a couple of big baskets while driving to the basket, Braden Wells had one of his four blocks and Garrison Sherman hit a three with about 1:30 remaining to set up Ekre’s shining moment in March.

As Ekre was being interviewed after the game, the architect of Scottsdale Christian’s basketball program, Bob Fredericks, walked by and said Ekre knew he would make his threes. There was no doubt.

Anderson played for Fredericks and won two titles as a player and another two as one of Fredericks’ assistant.

“This one hasn’t hit me yet,” Anderson said. “I’m just living in all the smiles right now. All the parents who are with their kids. That’s why I coach right there. You make memories for life.”

(Erin Slinde photo/AZPreps365)

(Erin Slinde photo/AZPreps365)

(Erin Slinde photo/AZPreps365)

(Erin Slinde photo/AZPreps365)

(Erin Slinde photo/AZPreps365)