Desert Pines holds off Las Vegas in boys basketball

Desert Pines’ boys basketball team didn’t take long Thursday night to show why it has yet to lose a game in league play.

Las Vegas used the second half of the game to show why it is poised to make the playoffs.

The Jaguars had an 18-point lead with 4:20 left in the third quarter and held on to earn a 78-74 road victory over the Wildcats.

“They showed a lot of energy and were attacking the basket,” Desert Pines coach Chancellor Davis said. “They had us on our heels, got us into foul trouble and were able to take advantage of that.”

Junior Chris Perry scored 25 points in the first half to lead the Jaguars (20-5, 10-0 Northeast) to a 45-29 advantage at the break.

Perry finished with 33 points as the Wildcats (14-10, 6-4) held him to only two points in the third quarter.

“I don’t think they did anything differently,” Perry said. “I wanted my teammates to get more involved with the game.”

Las Vegas coach Jason Wilson said he challenged his team at halftime to do a better job on Perry.

“I said, 'I don’t care who’s guarding him, but somebody please make him work,’ ” Wilson said. “I thought we fought harder to get through screens, and we got hands in his face in the second half a little bit better than we did in the first half.”

Las Vegas trailed by 14 points with 5:05 left in the fourth quarter after Perry drained a 3-pointer from the right wing.

Senior guard Tony Eackles, who scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, connected on two free throws that cut Desert Pines’ lead to eight points. Aamahd Franklin made a layup that made it 68-62 with 2:45 remaining.

“Tony wants the ball in his hands, and he just didn’t want to lose on senior night,” Wilson said.

Franklin, who had 12 points and 20 rebounds, entered the game late and didn’t even dress for pregame warmups as he was battling the flu.

“The biggest difference was when Aamahd came into the game for us,” Wilson said. “I was scared. I couldn’t even get him off the couch to be honest, and he sucked it up.”

Eackles nailed a long 3-pointer at the top of the arc that trimmed the margin to four points with 1:04 left.

The Jaguars went 8-for-10 from the line in the last minute with clutch free throws by Daimar Harris, Reggie Shaw and Pierre Jackson to hang on for the win.

“In the end, we made free throws, and that’s what it boiled down to,” Davis said. “Daimar is a big-time senior and a good free-throw shooter.”

Jackson scored 14 points and Shaw 11.

Tyree Anderson had 17 points and Demetrius Johnson 13 for the Wildcats.