SANTA CRUZ >> The NBA G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors had three two-way players on assignment from Golden State in their first-round playoff game Tuesday night, but it was a bench player, Alex Gil-Fernandez, who kept their playoff hopes alive.

Gil-Fernandez scored 10 of his 12 points in the third quarter to help the No. 4 seed Warriors rally from a 19-point deficit and take the lead, but the No. 5 Valley Suns rediscovered their shooting stroke late and prevailed 131-127 in the teams’ thrilling Western Conference quarterfinal at Kaiser Permanente Arena.

Two-way guard TyTy Washington Jr. scored a game-high 40 points for the Suns (21-14), who secured their first playoff win in franchise history. They’ll play at the host Stockton Kings (22-12), the No. 1 seed, in Thursday night’s semifinals.

No. 3 Salt Lake City Stars (22-13) and the No. 2 Austin Spurs (22-12) play in the other conference semifinal Thursday.

Though the Warriors came up short in their bid to reach the semifinals for a second straight season under second-year head coach Nicholas Kerr, the coach, his staff, and players held their heads high after turning in another stellar campaign.

Saying goodbye wasn’t easy.

“It’s definitely tough,” said Braxton Key, a two-way forward for Golden State. “After the game, I said, ‘You guys brought me in. I felt like family from Day 1, from the coaching staff, players, everybody.’ It’s gonna be hard for sure. It was the most fun I’ve had playing basketball probably since college, honestly. The way we played, the togetherness we had. No one cared for shot attempts or bad shots, or turnovers. We just played, fed off each other’s energy, fed off the crowd. And it was special. It was only 11 or 12 games I played, but it was the most fun 11 or 12 games I’ve had in a long time. I’m gonna miss it, for sure.”

On Wednesday, Key was named the G League’s Defensive Player of the Year. Signed to a two-way contract by Golden State on March 4, Key appeared in 33 regular season games for the San Diego Clippers and Santa Cruz. He led the G League with 96 steals in the regular season, the second-highest total by any NBA G League player since 2020-21. On offense, he averaged 22.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.0 assists.

“I love to play to defense,” Key said, noting he plans to playfully talk some trash with fellow defensive star Draymond Green when he rejoins Golden State.

The Sea Dubs’ roster was in flux as Golden State signed guard Pat Spencer, center Quintin Post and forward Kevin Knox II to standard NBA contracts during the year, after guard Yuri Collins and Knox signed 10-day contracts. There were plenty of other moves, too.

“I told the guys I’m going to miss them,” Kerr said. “It’s been a trying year, at times, for the guys who have been here from the beginning, but such a rewarding year, too. We made a bunch of individual improvements, got a couple of guys called up to Golden State, made the playoffs with, for a couple months, a skeleton roster. And then, really, these guys got so much better. I told them I was proud of them and I’m going to miss them.”

Valley shot 52.8% (47 of 89) from the field and 43.6% (17 of 39) from beyond the arc.

The Warriors shot 46.7% (49 of 105) from the field and 29% (9 of 31) from long range.They scored 74 points in the paint, 23 of which came on second-chance baskets.

Key had 30 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Warriors. Forward Blake Hinson had 24 points and seven rebounds, and two-way forward Jackson Rowe had 17 points and six rebounds. Collins totaled 16 points and 10 assists, and two-way guard Taran Armstrong scored 14 points.

The Suns made five of their 17 3-pointers in a 5-minute span in the fourth quarter. They took the lead for good on 6-foot-9 center Mamadi Diakite’s trey with 3:59 remaining, though the Warriors (20-15) had their chances.

“They put some pressure on the rim and got us to tag and hit a few 3s, That was key,” Kerr said. “And we couldn’t create much flow with our offense off of the makes.”

Diakite finished with 11 points, 12 rebounds, six assists, and four shot blocks.

Valley was outrebounded by a large margin for much of the game, but it narrowed the gap with a stellar showing in the fourth quarter.

The Suns made six 3s early and led 41-34 by the end of the first quarter. They increased their lead to 67-48, with 6:11 left in the first half.

Key sparked the Warriors’ rally and Gil-Fernandez helped the cause. Gil-Fernandez, a former guard California State University-San Marcos, made layups to knot the scored at 92-all and 94-all, and buried a corner 3-pointer to put his team up by three, 97-94.

“He’s become a better shooter,” said Kerr, of Gil-Fernandez. “He’s gotten more confident with how he plays the game. He was always a play-hard guy; now he feels like he belongs, too.”

With the Suns’ offense in a lull, the Warriors kept their foot on the gas and surged ahead by 12 points, 116-104. But the Suns forwards Moses Wood and Jalen Bridges, and Washington Jr. keyed the a decisive run, backed by a 3-point barrage.