VEGAS INVITE: Jackson, Agassi Prep cruise in tournament

Kalinn Jackson sat out the entire fourth quarter Tuesday night.

The senior forward was long done with his work for Agassi Prep’s boys basketball team by then.

Jackson scored 15 of his 23 points in the third quarter to lead the Stars to a 78-59 win over Lake Mead in the quarterfinals of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View.

“The coaches had us pretty much pumped up, and we came out and handled our business,” Jackson said of the third quarter.

Agassi Prep (7-2) scored the first nine points of the quarter, in which the Stars outscored the Eagles 28-9, to break open a 64-39 lead. Jackson capped the period with a 3-pointer just before the buzzer.

“He had a bounce-back game. Last night, he couldn’t hit a shot,” Agassi Prep coach Wendell West said of Jackson, who added five steals.

“Tonight, he just stayed with it, kept shooting the ball and started to knock a few down and get his confidence back.”

Agassi Prep advanced to meet Needles in a semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The Stars turned Tuesday’s possible Class 2A Southern League playoff preview into a rout with stellar defense, holding Lake Mead (4-7) to 21-for-51 shooting from the field.

One day after exploding for a tournament-record 51 points in a win over Tech, Lake Mead junior guard Justin Yamzon was limited to 22 points.

Agassi Prep also benefited from balanced offense. DeCari Lide had 13 points and three steals for Agassi Prep, and Terrell Kemp supplied 10 points and four assists.

Anson Williams, David Bailey and Watee Manor added eight points each for Agassi Prep, which had 10 players score.

Balance is crucial for the Stars as they play without star forward Curtis Watson, who is out indefinitely with a knee injury.

“DeCari Lide has stepped up big-time,” West said. “He’s everywhere on defense, and he’s been able to fill some of the void with Curtis out.

“That’s going to be the key for us, as long as we have balance and one guy isn’t scoring all the points.”

Caleb Pitman had 10 points and seven rebounds for Lake Mead. Brendan LeBaron had nine points for the Eagles, and Dylan Graham scored eight.

St. Joseph (Calif.) 67, Rancho 64 — Bebe Vargas and Keith Datu each scored 17 points to help the Knights hold off the Rams.

Case Bruton added 12 points for St. Joseph, which used a 9-2 run to start the fourth quarter to help rally from a 35-31 halftime hole.

Ciaran Subira made a reverse layup to pull Rancho within 66-64 in the final minute, but St. Joseph’s Isaac Murillo made the front end of a one-and-one to make it 67-64 with 7.8 seconds left and Rancho’s potential game-tying 3-pointer missed as time expired.

Subira scored 21 points for Rancho, which got 15 points from Ronnie Thomas.

Needles 82, Layton Christian (Utah) 78 — Michael Hills had 22 points and five assists to lead the Mustangs past the Eagles.

Lewie Larrabee had 19 points and Aaron Burns scored 14 for Needles, which outscored Layton Christian 23-13 in the fourth quarter.

McAndrews made a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds left to give the Mustangs an 80-78 lead, which expanded to 82-78 on a pair of free throws from Hills with 0.7 seconds remaining.

Hills scored 10 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter.

McAndrews had 11 points and 11 rebounds for Needles, and John Ochoa added 11 points.

Remington Rawlings hit six 3-pointers on his way to 24 points to lead Layton Christian.

Joe Haugen had 18 points and Quincy Mason scored 17 for the Eagles.

Needles 69, Pahranagat Valley 31 — Larrabee racked up 21 points and Hills had 11 points and nine assists as the Mustangs cruised past the Panthers.

Derek Hansen paced Pahranagat Valley with 12 points.

Pahranagat Valley 68, Calvary Chapel 38 — Tyler Higbee hit five 3-pointers on his way to 25 points as the Panthers downed the Lions.

Derek Hansen had 16 points and five rebounds for Pahranagat Valley, and Austin Poulsen and Chase Hansen scored eight points apiece. Ethan Simmers grabbed nine rebounds for the Panthers.

C.J. Castro scored 11 points for Calvary Chapel, and Bobby Buist had three points, nine rebounds and six blocks.

Buckley (Calif.) 57, The Meadows 38 — Marcell Johnson and Chase Holliday scored 11 points apiece as the Griffins shut down the Mustangs.

Garrett Gosse scored 17 points for The Meadows, which was held to single-digit scoring in two quarters.

River Valley (Ariz.) 57, Tech 49 — John Gutierrez and Matt Cronn each scored 19 points to lead the Dust Devils by the Roadrunners.

Manuel Vieites and D’Marco Foreman each scored 13 points for Tech.