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3A BOYS BASKETBALL: Desert Pines rolls over Del Sol

With a team consisting of 11 seniors, the Desert Pines Jaguars hope to finish the season with a championship for their upperclassmen and they completed step one of that goal Tuesday night at home.

Desert Pines controlled the game throughout, despite losing one of its starters early in the first quarter, and coasted to a 79-48 victory over the Del Sol Dragons in the Class 3A Southern Region quarterfinals.

“We just came out with some energy,” Desert Pines coach Mike Uzan said. “Just came out ready to play.”

Desert Pines plays Chaparral (21-6) in the semifinals at 4:40 p.m. on Thursday at Sunrise Mountain.

The Jaguars (16-11) jumped out to a 22-12 lead Tuesday after the first quarter helped out by a pair of 3-pointers from senior Capri Uzan.

Capri Uzan led the Jaguars in scoring with 24 points. Senior Jordan Simon added 15 points, and senior Jalen Graves had 13 points along with eight rebounds.

Desert Pines led Del Sol (14-12) 43-27 at halftime and did not lift their foot off the gas even slightly when the third quarter began.

“These guys are seniors and they’ve been to the playoffs the last four years,” Mike Uzan said. “I think at this point they are excited about the playoffs and they’re ready for the playoffs. So if that doesn’t motivate them to keep playing hard I don’t know what can.”

Senior Trevon Abdullah-Booker, a starter for the Jaguars, played limited minutes Tuesday after coming down hard under his own basket and injuring his right ankle early in the first quarter.

Abdullah-Booker re-entered the game for the opening possession in the second quarter, but was pulled out of the game for good soon after. He spent the rest of the first half testing his ankle behind the Jaguar bench.

Mike Uzan expects his 6-foot-5-inch senior to be ready for the semifinals.

“He’s just going to have to get through the pain a little bit,” Mike Uzan said. “Hopefully he can fight through it and hopefully he can play.”

Jonathan Spearman led Del Sol (14-12) with 15 points, and teammate Devonte Anton Villarta scored 14.

Virgin Valley 57, Western 53 — At Mesquite, Hogan Fowles scored 24 points, and was 10-for-12 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs held off Western in a Southern Region quarterfinal.

Andrew Memmott scored 17 points, and teammate Reid Jensen supplied 11 rebounds and five blocks for Virgin Valley (20-8).

Kwan Carter led Western (9-17) with 20 points, and Jesus Rojo scored 16 for the Warriors.

Virgin Valley plays Cheyenne (17-5) at 8 p.m. on Thursday at Sunrise Mountain.

Chaparral 58, Sunrise Mountain 40 — At Chaparral, Ronnie Hicks scored a game high 17 points to lead the Cowboys past the Miners in a Southern Region quarterfinal.

Jonathan Tendale added nine points, and Ben Kirschbaum supplied six points and 10 rebounds for Chaparral.

Stephen Wright and Steven Adeyemi each scored 10 points for Sunrise Mountain (10-14).

Cheyenne 69, Tech 45 — At Cheyenne, Dewayne Alexander supplied 27 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to power the Desert Shields past the Roadrunners in a Southern Region quarterfinal.

Kavon Williams notched 16 points, nine rebounds and five steals for Cheyenne (17-5), which led 39-18 at halftime. William Federson scored 11 points for the Desert Shields.

Gary Johnson led Tech with 10 points, and Jurelle Orbino had nine points for the Roadrunners (9-15).

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