Jackson’s slick play keeps Clark on I-A roll

Clark’s boys basketball team put the ball in the hands of senior point guard Colby Jackson at the end of the third quarter Saturday at Spring Valley.

Jackson made a play that turned the game in the Chargers’ favor, dishing to forward Ty’Rek Wells for a dunk that put the Chargers ahead for good, and they defeated Desert Pines 56-51 for the Division I-A Southern Region title.

“That was a momentum changer,” Jackson said. “We changed the tempo of the game. And it got everybody hyped up.”

Clark (21-8) held for a final shot in the quarter, and got the ball to Jackson near midcourt with less than 10 seconds to go. He drove to his left, drew the defense and dropped a pass to Wells who was cutting from the right corner. Wells’ emphatic dunk put Clark up 41-40, and the Chargers wouldn’t trail again.

“You want a bucket no matter what, but we certainly don’t want them getting the ball back,” Clark coach Chad Beeten said of holding for the last shot. “Then you get a dunk like that, just a breakdown play, it gives you all the momentum going into the fourth quarter. They’re kids, man, so that hype and energy goes a long way.”

The Chargers don’t have much size, but got big efforts in the second half from the closest players they have to big men. Wells, 6-foot-3-inch senior, scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, and 6-4 junior Darius Jackson scored all eight of his points after halftime.

Desert Pines’ Coby Myles scored eight points in the first 3:45 of the third quarter, and the Jaguars (21-9) soon led 38-32 after a drive by Jordan Simon. But Darius Jackson scored on a tip-in, then a 12-foot jumper to ignite Clark’s comeback.

“Earlier in the third we kind of played a little bit tentatively on offense,” Beeten said. “And they were hitting some shots and (we) kind of got out of our flow a little bit.”

Colby Jackson finished with a game-high 19 points, and added five rebounds, six assists and three steals.

He missed the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities in the final minute, but hit two free throws with one second remaining to lock down the victory.

“It was a big reliever, because I hardly ever miss free throws down the stretch,” Jackson said.

Carter Olsen scored 12 points, all in the first half, for Clark, which faces Lowry in the I-A state semifinals Friday at Silverado.

Myles had 18 points, Capri Uzan 12 points and Trevon Abdullah 13 rebounds for the Jaguars, who also advanced to state and will face Northern champion Elko in the semifinals.

“At the end of the day, this is the Southern Region championship and everybody’s goal in the beginning of the season is to win a state championship,” Beeten said. “I’m sure Desert Pines is the same as well. We’re happy, but we’re not satisfied.”

DIVISION III

Defending state champion Agassi Prep grabbed a 20-point lead in the first quarter and never let up in the Division III Southern League final, routing The Meadows 68-28 for its 43rd straight victory dating to Jan. 4, 2014.

Both teams advanced to this week’s state tournament.

Agassi Prep (24-0) opened a 24-4 lead in the first six minutes and kept padding the margin.

“I preach that to them every game — no letup,” Stars coach Trevor Diggs said. “I don’t care if we’re up 20 or we’re up 40. You have to play the same. You have to play with intensity. You have to go after the rebounds.”

Agassi Prep led 36-17 at halftime, having forced 15 turnovers and held The Meadows to 6-for-20 shooting. The Mustangs (17-8) finished with 27 turnovers.

Deishuan Booker had 18 points, eight steals and six assists for the Stars. Darius Coaxum scored 12 points, Kenneth Hatano 11 and Dennis Walker 10.

Max Hisatake had 10 points and seven rebounds to lead The Meadows. Ethan Fridman, one of the Mustangs’ leading scorers, left in the first quarter with a lower back injury.

DIVISION IV

Spring Mountain’s usually deadly 3-point shooting wasn’t so reliable. The Golden Eagles’ defense made up for it, lifting them to their second consecutive Division IV Southern League title.

Despite shooting 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) on 3-pointers, Spring Mountain forced 21 turnovers and held Pahranagat Valley to 32.4 percent shooting overall to sprint to a 63-38 victory at Spring Valley.

Both teams advanced to this week’s state tournament.

“That’s the makeup of this team,” Spring Mountain coach Ed Cheltenham said. “Because of who they are, most of these kids haven’t played high school ball, and if I was to jump on them for shooting 3-pointers, they’d shut down. So I just bear with it.”

Steve Jones had 21 points, eight steals, four rebounds and four assists for Spring Mountain (22-4), which led 31-22 at halftime. Teammate Shakori Clark added 15 points and five rebounds.

Tabor Maxwell led Pahranagat Valley (16-7) with nine points and seven rebounds.

Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587. Follow him on Twitter @DamonSeiters.