SIERRA VISTA TOURNEY: Sierra Vista girls edge Liberty in overtime

And Jackson proved why on Saturday.

With time running down in overtime, Jackson froze her defender at the free-throw line and drove down the lane for the go-ahead layup as the Mountain Lions defeated Liberty 52-50 in the Sierra Vista Invitational.

“She’s such a competitor,” Whalen said. “She’s just a sophomore, but she’s probably one of our more composed and competitive people.

“We look to her, but we definitely have other people that can pick it up. But she’s a gamer.”

Jackson was fouled on the play but missed the free throw, leaving Sierra Vista up 51-49 with 10.6 seconds.

Liberty’s Jade Washington made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 51-50 with six seconds left but was called for a lane violation on her second attempt, giving the ball back to Sierra Vista.

Madinah Hennix sank 1 of 2 free throws with four seconds left for the final margin.

“It’s good, because we needed to be tested a little bit,” Whalen said. “We got a little bit of a challenge.”

Jackson finished with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists. She was held scoreless in the third quarter, but senior forward Kim Rouzer helped replace the production, scoring eight of her 11 points in the third.

Rouzer also had eight rebounds.

“She really came on strong in the third quarter,” Whalen said. “She kind of struggled offensively, especially last year. But she really went to the basket a lot tonight in the third quarter and gave us a spark.”

Sierra Vista’s zone defense frustrated Liberty in the first half. The Patriots settled for outside jumper after outside jumper, with few finding the mark. Liberty was 3-for-21 from the field in the second quarter.

But the Patriots began to attack the basket in the second half, led by Washington, who scored 17 of her 18 points after halftime.

“We were still in a zone, but we kept giving up the middle a little bit too much,” Whalen said.

Washington also had nine rebounds and four assists. Amanda Delgado added 14 points, and Daynice Cochran grabbed 19 rebounds for Liberty.

Teena Baxter added 11 points and seven boards for Sierra Vista, which went 2-0 on the opening day of pool play.

Durango 67, Desert Oasis 29 — A scoreless stretch of 10 minutes, 5 seconds doomed the Diamondbacks.

Mia Bell had 20 points and six assists to lead Durango, which outscored Desert Oasis 17-0 in the third quarter.

Jasmine Thomas added 10 points for Durango, which held the Diamondbacks to 2-for-19 shooting in the second half.

Auburn Smith had 11 points and Alexus Caulk 10 for Desert Oasis, which hurt itself with 32 turnovers.

Durango 54, Rancho 27 — Bell scored 25 of her 27 points in the second half to lead the Trailblazers.

Durango outscored Rancho 37-14 in the second half.

Liberty 76, Golden Valley (Calif.) 35 — Delgado had 23 points to lead five Patriots scorers in double figures.

Cochran (13), Washington (12), Destiny Whitehead (12) and Phoebe Baker (10) also had strong games for Liberty.

Sierra Vista 43, Arbor View 31 — Jackson had 11 points to lead the Mountain Lions.

Freshman Jena Valenzuela scored 10 points for the Aggies.

Arbor View 51, Golden Valley 47 — Candice McFarland had 17 points and Valenzuela scored 16 to lead the Aggies.

Rancho 55, Wooster 39 — Khalia Branch had 30 points to lead the Rams over the Colts.

Wooster 52, Desert Oasis 34 — Briahna Hendrix had 15 points to lead the Colts over the Diamondbacks.

Caulk scored 13 points and Smith 12 for Desert Oasis.

Cimarron-Memorial 53, Las Vegas 51 — Ben Dorsey’s rebound basket as time expired gave the Spartans the win.

The Spartans inbounded the ball deep in the backcourt with 4.8 seconds to go. Andre Vickers pushed the ball up the court and passed to Dillon Brummett on the right wing.

Brummett’s 3-pointer missed, but Dorsey grabbed the weakside rebound and hit the shot at the buzzer.

Dorsey finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. Kevin Olekaibe led Cimarron with 17 points, and Brayden Quackenbush scored 14. Dale Puckett added 10 rebounds and four assists for the Spartans.

Tony Eackles led the Wildcats with 18 points. Aahmad Franklin added 13 points and Tyree Anderson 11 for Las Vegas.

Sierra Vista 75, Arbor View 67 — The Mountain Lions used a 10-2 fourth-quarter run to take control.

Amir Garrett had 22 points and Quinten Chow 20 to lead Sierra Vista.

Ray Tapusoa added 14 points and Miguel Reyes 10 for Sierra Vista.

Darington Banks had 27 points, including seven 3-pointers, to lead Arbor View.

Maiscei Grier added 12 points and James Graham 10 for the Aggies.

Valley 86, Damonte Ranch 51 — Johnquez Brooks had 25 points to lead the Vikings.

Keenyn Thomas scored 13 and Khristian Kirkwood 11 for Valley.

Cimarron-Memorial 70, Clark 56 — Olekaibe scored 31 points as the Spartans rolled.

Brummett added 17 points and Puckett 13 for Cimarron.

Isidro Garcia scored 22 points and Steven Dancy 17 for the Chargers.

Las Vegas 63, Desert Oasis 55 — Eackles had 23 points and Franklin 17 to lead the Wildcats over the Diamondbacks.

George Sanico scored 10 points for Las Vegas, which outscored Desert Oasis 20-12 in the fourth quarter.

Cameron Mich’l led Desert Oasis with 30 points. Cameron Jefferson scored 10 points for the Diamondbacks.

Desert Oasis 66, Clark 52 — Freshman Anthony Lianzo had 18 points to lead the Diamondbacks.

Mich’l and Jefferson each scored 16 points for Desert Oasis.

Garcia had 18 points to lead Clark.

Rabbit Toler had 14 points and Dancy 11 for the Chargers.

Arbor View 82, Valley 72 — Banks had 24 points to lead four Aggies in double figures.

Grier scored 17, Kenny Mack 12 and Naiem Johnson 11 for Arbor View, which had 35 points in the fourth quarter.

Johnquez Brooks led Valley with 23 points. Chris Marshall added 16 points and Thomas 11 for the Vikings.

Sierra Vista 73, Damonte Ranch 49 — Chow had 17 points as the Lions rolled.

Garrett had 14 pionts and Dallin Molina scored 10 for Sierra Vista, which led 22-4 after one quarter.