The Flagstaff Eagles may have been looked at as the underdogs going into Wednesday's Division II, Section II game against cross-town rival Coconino, but once the Eagles hit the floor it sure didn't look like it.

Playing their third game of the season against the Panthers (15-3), Flagstaff (13-5) jumped out to an early 10-6 lead in the first quarter and never trailed in the game en route to a 53-46 win.

It was team basketball that led the Eagles past Coconino for the second time this season.

Playing without leading scorer Trevor Johnson for the second-straight game after the junior's second double-technical foul, the Eagles stepped up and rose to the occasion together.

Senior Bailey Stephens, who led Flagstaff with 21 points including a 10-for-10 night from the free-throw line, said this sectional win will make other teams look at the Eagles in a different light.

"I'm so excited that we could win this game, hush everybody up and prove everybody wrong," Stephens said.

Stephens was the Eagles' sparkplug on offense, while freshman Brett Morrow anchored the defense with a stellar performance. He only scored four points, but his presence in the paint -- Morrow had a game-high five blocks -- forced the Panthers to think twice about where and how they were taking shots.

Morrow said sometimes it's not about the points on the board, but the opportunity to just work hard.

"It's not always about points, I just tried to work through (missing baskets) and played hard on defense," he said.

Morrow added a team-high nine rebounds to lead the Eagles.

Head coach James Kirk said having big guys like Morrow really forced the Panthers to adjust their offensive approach.

"Brett tore it up on the boards, tore the ball out of guys' hands and I was thrilled," he said. "Their shooters were thinking about him and it's nice we have some long guys too. Our guys closed out and they should feel good about what they've done."

Flagstaff held a 24-18 lead at the half, but Coconino started the third quarter hot and cut the lead to 34-31 by the end of the stanza. Senior Skyler Zweifel started hitting from beyond the arc -- he led Coconino with 21 points including five 3-pointers -- but it wasn't enough as Flagstaff's defense clamped down.

Coconino found itself in foul trouble in the fourth quarter, and Flagstaff, which finished 15-for-15 from the free-throw line, made 10 shots from the stripe in the fourth.

Kirk said hitting those free throws was huge for the Eagles.

"These guys played hard and down the stretch is where we lost the last one," Kirk said. "Down the stretch (Wednesday), we were a lot stronger and more aggressive and played to win. I couldn't be happier." Stephens hit eight of his free throws in the fourth, and said the capacity crowd didn't have any effect on his shots.

"They had a lot more people than we did but the Eagles crowd was way more cheerful and that helped us a lot," he said. "Every day after practice I make sure I can hit an amount of consecutive free throws before I go home. It's a lot of practice."

Christian Baraga scored eight points for the Eagles and Tyler McCoy added five.

Following Zweifel for the Panthers were Andy Bonner (14 points and seven boards) and Josh Ingram with nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles will face No. 7 Copper Canyon, who upset No. 2 Cactus Shadows 67-62 Wednesday, at 5:45 p.m. Friday at Greenway High School.

With their power points sure to improve, the sectional win over Coconino also improves the Eagles' state playoff hopes.

"We were at No. 23 and they only take 24, so this should at least guarantee us a state game," Kirk said. "But we want to see how we rate against some state teams."

Bill Harris can be reached at bharris@azdailysun.com or 556-2251.