BOYS BASKETBALL: Shooting practice pays off in big way for Jarvis, Gators

Green Valley's Xavier Jarvis said his team used the day off from school Monday to work on its shooting, and it showed.

Jarvis scored 45 points to lead the Gators to an 85-78 win over the host Las Vegas Wildcats.

"My team kept feeding me the ball, and I felt like I needed to do whatever I could in order to help us get the win," the senior guard said. "We put up a lot of shots before the game because we didn't have school and that really helped me tonight. The coaches kept telling me to do my thing, and I got into a groove."

The Gators needed Jarvis' hot hand as the Wildcats came out on fire, running out to a 15-4 lead about midway through the first quarter. Then Jarvis took over with a 7-0 run of his own.

He was fouled driving to the basket and made both free throws. He then hit a 3-pointer and converted a Wildcats' turnover into a layup to cut the lead to 15-11.

"Our team feeds of his energy, so when he's going, we are going," Green Valley head coach Lorenzo Jarvis said. "He really got us going. He's our senior leader, and our team feeds off of him."

Coach Jarvis said his team settled down after the Wildcats' early spurt, holding Las Vegas to two points the rest of the quarter and pulling within a point at 17-16.

"We went back to the game plan — playing defense, moving our feet, and not looking past anyone," Lorenzo Jarvis said. "In the first half, we looked past them a little bit. They are a good team with a great coach. We knew they were going to come out and fight hard. It was an important win for us.

"Once we start going and running up and down the floor — I'll say our style of play is chaos, controlled chaos — and when we start doing that, playing good defense and rebounding, we are good team and that is what sparked us."

In the second quarter, Xavier Jarvis continued to shine, scoring 14 points to finish with 23 at the half.

While Xavier Jarvis was lighting up the scoreboard for the Gators, Marquis Raybon and Donovan Joyner were doing their part to keep the Wildcats in the game. Raybon had 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half, and Joyner added nine points for the Wildcats.

In the second half, the Gators' frenetic pace continued to give the Wildcats trouble as Green Valley extended its 42-36 halftime lead to 64-51 at the end of the third quarter.

The Wildcats tried to get back into the game, eventually cutting the Gators lead to five with 1:33 remaining, but Jarvis hit 3 of 4 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

Matthew Tuttle added 12 points for the Gators.

Raybon finished with 21 points and 23 rebounds. Joyner finished with 20 points, and Dartanion Myers scored 14 for the Wildcats.

Rancho 59, Agassi Prep 46 — At Agassi Prep, Jahleel Stevens had 16 points to lead the Rams over the Stars.

Chrys Jackson added 13 points, and teammate Lamont Traylor scored 10 for Rancho.