TRI-STATE: Desert Oasis not short on effort in loss to Utah team

Desert Oasis had a few more veterans last season when it won the inaugural Tri-State Invitational it hosts.

The Diamondbacks could have used that experience Wednesday against a bigger and more physical Mountain View squad from Orem, Utah.

The Bruins, made up of all upperclassmen, shot 25 of 48 (52 percent) from the floor en route to a 73-56 victory over Desert Oasis.

Mountain View will face Hurricane (Utah) in the championship game at 3 p.m. Thursday at Desert Oasis. The game will be livestreamed on Baller.TV.

The Bruins, who drained 10 3-pointers in the win, also outrebounded the Diamondbacks, 32-13, and held them to just 34 percent shooting (19 of 55) from the field.

“At halftime, we talked about their second-chance points, and that’s why they were ahead at halftime and that’s why, ultimately, they won the game,” Desert Oasis coach Joseph Bedowitz said. “We’re a very young team, and the kids have a tendency to press when they start to fall behind, especially in the second halves. They try to do it on their own instead of using the offense to generate their shots.”

The Bruins opened the game on a 15-4 streak behind seniors Ricky Stafford and Keliano Wesley, who accounted for all of Mountain View’s points during the run.

But Desert Oasis would fight back in the second quarter and trim the deficit to 36-32 at halftime.

The Diamondbacks pulled within 41-40 after Tyler McClendon converted a three-point play with 5:35 left in the third quarter. But Mountain View countered with an 8-2 run of its own, on the strength of Stafford’s long-range game.

Stafford, who finished the game with 22 points and 10 rebounds, also was the closer. The 6-foot-1 swingman’s energy ignited Mountain View in the final period, where it pulled away and outscored the Diamondbacks, 17-7.

“He is the ultimate competitor, and we’ve added pieces (around him),” Mountain View coach Alan Groves said. “He’s a very polished player. He has a lot of abilities because of his work over time.

“And we have eight seniors, so they’ve done this before. We’re just now hitting our stride. We have played better every single game and they’ve built confidence on us playing a little bit better every single game. In our league, where we play in Utah, we don’t have any guys who can dunk it, we don’t have explosive, blow-by-you guys. If we’re going to win, it’s got to be because we outworked you, it’s got to be physical, and that’s what you saw.”

Desert Oasis, which will face Basic in the third-place game of the Platinum Division at 1:30 p.m., was led by Jacob Heese, who finished with 26 points and five rebounds.

“Going down to a team like that, they handled it,” Bedowitz said. “Just like every other game this year, win or lose, we try to learn something from the game and move forward and fuel us for the next game. I told them I did not fault their effort. We made mistakes, and that’s what cost us. But the effort was there. We’re still playing for third place and they have to bring that same effort.”

Earlier in pool play, Desert Oasis had no problem with Kingman (Ariz.), grabbing a 74-40 victory. The Diamondbacks overcame a tight first quarter to take a 10-point halftime advantage.

Manny Mitchell led Desert Oasis with 22 points, while Heese added 18 points.

Kingman was led by Tobias Bagby’s 10 points.

Mountain View (Utah) 67, Spring Valley 52 — Elijah Turner and Justin Bonner each scored 11 points in the Grizzlies’ loss to the Bruins.

Stafford and Kedrick Clayton each scored 17 points to lead Mountain View.

Hurricane (Utah) 55, Basic 52 — The Tigers overcame a six-point, third-quarter deficit by using a 25-16 run to advance to the championship game of the Platinum Division bracket.

Nate Ben, Jackson Last and Josh Parker each scored 12 points for Hurricane.

Basic was led by Cris Dominguez and Geoff Faries, who scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Basic 77, Wooster 50 — The Wolves opened the game with a 24-12 edge after the first quarter and never looked back in their win over the Colts.

Faries led Basic with 14 points, while Derek Kinsey added 12 points.

Wooster was led by Myster Smith’s 19 points, and Tyler Vetter added 12 points.

Arbor View 76, Kingman (Ariz.) 59 — Comillion Smith led the Aggies with 20 points, while Calvin Brooks scored 13.

Lucas Lawrence added 10 points for Arbor View.

Kingman was led by Jonathan Hunt, who had 18 points.

Arbor View 76, Calvary Chapel 36 — Brooks led the Aggies with 12 points, while Smith, Palmer Adams, and Payton Lysen each scored nine in their win over the Lions.

Elijah Martinez led Calvary Chapel with 15 points, while Marior Munda added 12 points.

Silverado 63, Virgin Valley 47 — Devin Ross led all scorers with 26 points to lift the Skyhawks over the Bulldogs.

Marcus Strawberry added 15 points, while Caden Farley scored 11 for Silverado.

Hogan Fowles scored 14 for the Bulldogs, and Devin Cox added 13 points.

Silverado 79, Coral Academy 76 — Ross scored a game-high 29 points as the Skyhawks rallied past the Falcons in the fourth quarter.

Strawberry had 19 points, and Jaden Keomaka scored 10 for Silverado, which trailed 60-59 after three quarters.

Isaiah Spears’ 28 points led Coral Academy, while Ryan Djino had 19 points and Isaac Spears chipped in 12 points.

Coral Academy 91, Wooster 57 — Isaac Spears had 27 points to lead five Falcons in double figures in their blowout win over the Colts.

Isaiah Spears scored 21, Zachary Hammer had 14 points, and Djino and Adam Abdalla each chipped with 10 points.

Virgin Valley 44, Provo (Utah) 42 — Fowles scored 16 points to lead Virgin Valley past Provo.

Andrew Memmott added 11 points for Virgin Valley.

Provo got 17 points from Braxton Bailey and 15 points from Kache Koop.

Spring Valley 64, Lowry 40 — The Grizzlies got 13 points from Justin Bonner, and 11 points from Paul Banks in their win over the Buckaroos.

Lowry was led by Dominic Solis’ 11 points.

Sunrise Mountain 61, Calvary Chapel 56 — Stephen Wright scored five of the Miners’ 11 points in overtime in the win over the Lions.

Demoni Wilks hit the second of two free throws to tie the game at 49 and send the game into overtime.

Daltyn Pytrysson led Sunrise Mountain with 20 points.

Sunrise Mountain 42, Lowry 33 — Steven Adeyemi scored 21 points to help the Miners down the Buckaroos.

Solis led Lowry with eight points.