Sierra Vista breaks out in third quarter, fends off Desert Oasis

With 36 seconds left in Tuesday’s game, the chants started breaking out.

“This is our house!”

Except it wasn’t the home fans.

The Sierra Vista boys basketball team used a 25-point third quarter to build a commanding lead and invigorate the fans that made the trip, taking down Desert Oasis 67-56 in the Diamondbacks’ house and claiming “The Rock” rivalry trophy.

“We know that whenever we come here or they go there, it’s going to be one of the best high school basketball environments,” Sierra Vista coach Keith Ulrich said. “Our school showed up and supported us.”

The score wasn’t indicative of how in control the Mountain Lions (2-3, 1-1 Southwest League) were. While the Diamondbacks (4-4, 0-2) managed 27 points in the fourth quarter to make the score respectable, the third quarter is where Sierra Vista, which never trailed, shined.

Junior forward Jalen McFadden came off the bench to lead the Mountain Lions with 13 points. It was his bucket with less than a minute remaining in the third that gave his squad a 55-29 lead, the biggest lead of the game.

“I think I served my team pretty good,” McFadden said. “Being one of the best players coming off the bench and showing my team that I can actually be one of the starters and that I should get in the rotation feels pretty good.”

In the third quarter alone he had seven points, and added five rebounds and an assist in the game.

“He’s young, he’s inexperienced, but he did a really good job of being able to get some key buckets for us,” Ulrich said.

The Diamondbacks held Sierra Vista top scorer Maka Ellis to a season-low 12 points after he averaged 26.0 entering Tuesday.

Sierra Vista picked up its first league win despite the best efforts of Desert Oasis junior guard Jacob Heese, who scored a game-high 25 points, along with seven rebounds and two assists. Diamondbacks junior forward Manny Mitchell had 12 rebounds, seven in the first quarter.

Contact Justin Emerson at jemerson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2944. Follow @J15Emerson on Twitter.