Jones’ tiebreaking basket carries Durango boys over Mojave

It shouldn’t have been a surprise that Shawn Jones was in the right place at the right time in the closing seconds Tuesday night.
After all, that’s where the Durango junior had been all night.

Jones took a pass from Marcus Falley and scored with four seconds remaining to break a 56-56 tie, and the Trailblazers (20-7) held on for the 58-56 victory over visiting Mojave (17-9) in the Sunset Region quarterfinals.

“Shawn was in the right place at the right time,” said Falley, who had 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists. “I just gave him a good pass and he finished it.”

The Trailblazers will play Palo Verde (21-4) in the semifinals at 4:40 p.m. Thursday at Palo Verde.

Durango had tied the game at 56 when Jones found Falley for a layup with 1:35 to go. Mojave missed a quick 3-point attempt at the other end, and Durango ended up holding for one shot.

As Mojave attempted to extend its 1-3-1 zone, Falley found a seam and penetrated before passing to Jones for the game-winner.

“Defensively they were trying to step it up and get in the passing lanes and get some steals and deflections,” Durango coach DeShawn Henry said. “And that kind of opened it up for us a little bit.”

After taking a timeout with 3.4 seconds left, the Rattlers were able to inbound to star senior Anthony Marshall. But he stepped on the sideline, and Durango was able to run out the clock.

Mojave led 37-28 at halftime, but Jones fueled a comeback in the second half by scoring 12 of his 17 points.

“(Jones) has been really coming on the last couple games,” Henry said. “Around the boards he tries to get everything. We just encourage him to go hard down there, and it’s paying off for us.”

Said Falley: “Shawn’s goofy. Sometimes you have to get in his head, but he got rebounds and scored and did exactly what he was supposed to do.”

Jones grabbed eight rebounds for Durango, which scored 14 second-chance points in the second half and 22 overall. The Trailblazers outrebounded Mojave 20-12 in the second half.

“We didn’t do a very good job on the boards,” Mojave coach Tony Hopkins said. “We allowed too many second shots. The second shots are what killed us.”

With 3:14 to play Durango had taken a 53-52 lead, its first since the first quarter, on Dario Jokic’s long 3-pointer. Jokic struggled from outside, shooting 1-for-8 on 3-pointers, but the one he made was crucial for the Trailblazers.

“With Dario, we just encourage him to shoot it, shoot it, shoot it,” Henry said. “He’s a high-volume guy, so we hope he finds it and finds it quick. And he found it at the right time.”

Jokic had a team-high 10 rebounds.

Marshall led Mojave with 20 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots. Kevin James supplied 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.