Junior’s 3-point barrage lifts Desert Oasis

Without its starting point guard and with its leading scorer fighting through an illness, the Desert Oasis girls basketball team needed someone to step up Tuesday.

Ashlynn Sharp answered the call.

The junior guard hit five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points on a night when few others could hit shots to lead the seventh-ranked Diamondbacks to a 50-31 home win over No. 8 Arbor View in a battle for second place in the Northwest League.

"Our freshman point guard is out and (leading scorer) Mikala (Kirby) is sick, so we had to have a guard step up," said Desert Oasis coach Laurie Evans-Gygax, whose team beat Arbor View for the first time in the program's history. "It got a little scary for a while, but she came through. She made some shots, and we haven't made shots in a couple of games."

Sharp drained three 3-pointers in the first quarter as the Diamondbacks spotted Arbor View a 3-0 lead, then rattled off the final 14 points of the quarter.

Desert Oasis (12-7, 3-1 Northwest) extended the run and built the lead to 18-3 in the second quarter before the Aggies broke a near 10-minute scorless drought.

"We started the first quarter off the way we wanted to," Evans-Gygax said.

Arbor View, which made only 9 of 48 shots (18.8 percent) and had just six points in the paint, crept as close as 32-27 late in the third quarter when Desert Oasis had trouble handling the Aggies' trapping defense, but a three-point play by KePatriot Simpson with 2.7 seconds left in the quarter started an 8-0 run that put the game out of reach.

"We got lucky when they missed some shots, but we played hard," Evans-Gygax said. "Our freshmen and sophomores played older than they are today. They did what they had to do, and they did enough."

Desert Oasis didn't shoot particularly well, either, making just 17 of 55 (30.9 percent) from the field, but grabbed 23 offensive rebounds — nine of those by 6-foot sophomore Dajaah Lightfoot, who finished with six points and 18 rebounds.

"She was huge," Evans-Gygax said. "We wouldn't have won without her."

Alaysia Reed had 12 points for Arbor View (12-10, 2-2).

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.