The Desert  Mountain basketball team showed off its knack for dramatic theater Wednesday evening, and picked up a signature victory in the process. 

The Wolves squared off against Gonzaga Prep, one of Washington State’s top teams, and turned a double digit deficit into a finish for the ages. Led by its young nucleus, Desert Mountain came back from a 12 point, second half deficit to knock off Gonzaga Prep, 58-56 in first round action of the Visit Mesa basketball challenge at Mountain View High School.

With the score tied at 56 and :10 seconds remaining, Desert Mountain guard Kaden House stole the ball before going the length of the court and slam dunking the game’s final points with two seconds remaining.

The Wolves (10-2) trailed by three at halftime, before Gonzaga Prep (5-2) slowly built its lead up to 12 points with 7:35 remaining. Desert Mountain struggled shooting in the second half, but the Wolves were never out of it. 

“We just kept playing through the adversity and kept fighting,” Javon Bardwell said afterward. 

“Coach (Armour) called a timeout and we had a good talk in the second half. We knew we had to just keep playing through.”

Bardwell, a freshman, knocked down a pair of three point field goals late in the game to help keep Desert Mountain within striking distance. He finished with 16 points, while Kaden House led the team with 22 points. Kaden's twin brother Kalek added 15 for the Wolves, and his second half hustle was instrumental in keeping Desert Mountain’s chances alive when the game appeared to be slipping away. 
 

Gonzaga Prep's Henry Sandberg was deadly in the second half, scoring 18 of his 25 points with a combination of outside shooting and penetration for easy interior buckets. But Sandberg's effort wasn't quite enough to put Desert Mountain away, as he was the only Gonzaga Prep player to score in double figures.

The Visit Mesa tournament runs through Saturday, with two other brackets competing at Red Mountain and Westwood. 

 

Other @VisitMesa Basketball Challenge Scores from the Mountain View bracket:

Brophy Prep 66

Notre Dame 61 OT

Brophy guard Braeden Speed scored 27 points to lift the Broncos (7-4) over the Saints (11-3) in overtime. Anthony Batson Jr. led Notre Dame with 22 points.

 

Bakersfield Christian (CA) 64

Pinnacle 62

Bakersfield Christian overcame an outstanding performance from Pinnacle's Braylon Johnson, who led all scorers with 26 points. Pinnacle (9-4) got 17 points from Ryan Nelson and 13 from Tommy Randolph. 

 

Clovis West 66

Valley Christian 63

Clovis West overcame a 16 point deficit in the first half to hand Valley Christian its first loss of the season. Valley Christian was led by Austin Wallace's 22 points.

 

John Paul II (TX) 82

Salpointe 58

6-7 senior Bryson McGlothin had a monster game with 23 points for John Paul II (17-3), which hails from Plano, Texas. Ben Aronaon led Salpointe (8-4) with 12 points.