61°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Arbor View scoring mark doesn’t last long

On Tuesday, Arbor View’s Justin Burks set a school record with 36 points in an overtime win over Durango.

He managed to top that Friday.

Burks scored 13 of his 42 points in the two overtime periods as the Aggies escaped with a 101-94 win at Sierra Vista.

“Justin’s a kid that’s capable of taking over a game, and that’s exactly what he did tonight,” Arbor View coach Kyle Hageness said. “In crunch time, Justin delivered. He did a little bit of everything for us tonight. He carried us.”

Burks started the second overtime with a steal and a slam to give the Aggies (16-1, 4-0 Northwest League) an 89-87 lead, and they wouldn’t trail again. Burks added a free throw and a 17-foot jumper to push the lead to 92-87 with 2:13 left.

Arbor View missed its first six field goals in the second overtime before a driving layup by Mikko Balmes with 1:25 left made the score 96-91.

But Burks hit two free throws to push the lead back to seven, and the Aggies coasted from there.

“We’ve dealt with this situation a lot, coming back from deficits at halftime,” said Burks, who also had 12 rebounds. “And we always know from the jump that we’re going to do whatever it takes to win. I think that’s what we did. We just locked down in the second half and both overtimes and got the win.”

The Aggies remained undefeated against Nevada teams, but that streak certainly looked to be in doubt in the fourth quarter.

A three-point play by Nino Flores with 6:28 to play pushed Sierra Vista’s lead to 68-55. But reserve forward Jeremiah Covington was whistled for a technical foul while on the bench on the play.

It was the fifth foul for the 6-foot-5-inch Covington, leaving the Mountain Lions (13-6, 2-2) without their tallest player down the stretch.

Burks hit both technical foul shots to start a 9-2 run, and the bigger Aggies were able to take advantage of their size down the stretch. The 6-7 Burks was often guarded by 5-9 Apollo Corley, and he was able to take advantage, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter. Charles Porter added six points in the quarter, including a layup with 39 seconds left that tied the score at 77 and forced overtime.

Porter, who finished with 23 points, then scored on a drive with 26 seconds to go in the first overtime to put Arbor View up 87-84. But Corley drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the score and force another extra period.

Balmes scored 29 points and Flores 23 for Sierra Vista.

Hageness was relieved to come away with the two overtime wins this week.

“(Going) 16-1 is extremely hard to do,” Hageness said. “You’ve got to be lucky, and we have been. You’ve got to be pretty good, and I think we are. Things are kind of coming together. And obviously winning close games makes all the difference in the world.”

Contact reporter Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow @DamonSeiters on Twitter.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST