Mojave tops Arbor View in boys basketball

Anthony Marshall is almost ready to play basketball at the next level.

All he needs to do is finish off his excellent high school playing career first. Well, that — and work on his free throws.

The talented Mojave senior had 25 points, eight rebounds and seven assists on Thursday to lead the Rattlers to a 71-64 road win over Arbor View.

“Everybody in the whole state knows that he is our key, our catalyst,” Mojave coach Tony Hopkins said. “When he has control of his teammates and the tempo of the game like he did tonight, we’re a solid team.”

Marshall used his solid frame to drive into the lane and draw fouls and scored six of his eight fourth-quarter points from the line. However, he also missed seven free throws in the fourth quarter and went 8-for-20 overall from the stripe.

“Our struggles from the line allowed them to get back into the game,” Hopkins said. “At the same time, they made shots they had to make.”

Mojave (12-7, 4-4 Northwest) led 23-12 after the first quarter. Arbor View (12-11, 3-5) looked destined to be blown out as it committed many turnovers, which led to plenty of fast-break layups for the Rattlers in the opening quarter.

“That’s been our downfall all season: starting off slow and having to really fight back in the second half,” Aggies coach John Teran said. “It usually has us ending up in foul trouble or running out of gas.”

Mojave kept the pressure on as Marshall hit Kevin James with a bullet pass to the short corner for a layup that put the Rattlers ahead 33-16 with 5:11 left in the second quarter.

Trailing by 12 points at the break, the Aggies opened the third quarter by showing Mojave a 2-3 zone on defense, and the change slowed the game.

Arbor View won the quarter 16-12 and trailed 57-49 going into the final period.

“My kids have a lot of fight, and they refuse to quit,” Teran said.

Arbor View roared back and tied the score at 64 after Darington Banks, who scored 17 points to lead the Aggies, drained a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 3:10 remaining.

James, who finished with 11 points and had nine rebounds, made a key block in the paint on Kenny Mack with 45 seconds to play and the Rattles leading 68-64.

Marshall got a steal and made a free to put Mojave up 69-64 with 24 seconds remaining.

Mojave sophomore Prentice Marshall had 18 points, and teammate Nick Mathews scored 14.

Arbor View sophomore Maiscei Grier had 15 points, and Mack had 10 points and nine boards.