Young Wildcats fend off Rams for first win

Las Vegas High's boys basketball team has little experience, and the youthful Wildcats found themselves in a brand new position Friday night. They had a lead.

Las Vegas led by as much as 19 points, then held off host Rancho for a 67-62 victory, the team's first of the season.

"The first three games we were battling from behind the whole time," Las Vegas coach Jason Wilson said. "And then this game the whole thing flipped around. We had the lead, and they hadn't been in that situation yet, so they had to learn how to finish. Fortunately, we made just enough plays at the end to get it done."

Junior guard Deandre Northey scored 25 points to lead the Wildcats (1-3), and his basket on a back cut with 48 seconds to go pushed the Las Vegas lead to 63-57 and essentially sealed the win.

Las Vegas returned just one player, 6-foot-5-inch junior forward Marquise Raybon, who played significant minutes last season. Only one other player saw any varsity action.

"The awesome part about these guys is they're young and they're learning and they're starting to figure some things out," Wilson said. "And it was a big win for us, because if we'd have lost with the lead that we had, it could have been pretty devastating for the young ones."

Las Vegas had trouble keeping Rancho off the offensive glass. Michael Hernandez's stick-back to close out the third quarter cut the Wildcats' lead to 56-45.

Las Vegas went to a box-and-one look on Rancho point guard Chrys Jackson, keeping the ball out of the junior playmaker's hands. But it didn't matter, as the Rams crashed the boards relentlessly and cut into the lead.

Lamont Traylor had consecutive stick-backs, followed by an offensive rebound and bucket from Hernandez that made the score 56-51 with 5:03 to play.

"We're a bunch of midgets," Wilson said. "Not only are we young, but we only have one guy over 6-2. It's just a matter of doing what we do in practice and putting bodies on people."

Traylor finished with 18 points, 14 rebounds and four blocked shots. He scored 10 points on offensive rebounds.

"He's a big, good-looking kid, and he jumps out of the gym," Wilson said. "And he got his hands on everything around the bucket and put it back in."

Sophomore guard Donovan Joyner added 13 points for Las Vegas, and Raybon had 11 points and eight rebounds.

Jackson finished with 24 points and six rebounds, and Hernandez had 14 points and nine rebounds for Rancho (6-2).

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters