Desert Mountain defense turns back Westwood in second half

Desert Mountain's pressure defense put the kabosh on Westwood's  three-point shooting and field-goal attempts in general in the second half, rallying the Wolves to a 60-47 win over the Warriors on Monday at the 9th annual Martin Luther King Basketball Classic at ASU's Wells Fargo Arena.

Desert Mountain trailed 28-25 at halftime, but opted to turn up the heat with full-court in the second half. It worked to perfection. Westwood committed twice as many turnovers in the second half (14) as the first. Westwood made 5-of-12 three-point shots in the first half. They only got five in the second half and made one. Those two facets paved the way for Desert Mountain to outscore Westwood, 35-19, after intermission.

Desert Mountain  (15-5 overall, 8-3 power-point games) got consistent scoring from Diego Magana, Austin Cooke and Tyler Conger. All three scored in double figures ,led by Magana  with 16, Cooke 14 and Conger 11. Westwood (10-10, 2-8) was paced by Josh Brown with 13 and Alan Burgess with 10.

PINNACLE 75,  HORIZON 56

Sophomore Dorian Pickens and junior  Drew Bender took command offensively in the first half combining for 20 points as Pinnacle hammered its district neighbor Horizon.

Pickens had an outstanding first half with 12 points and six rebounds. He made 5-of-7 shot from the field, including two threes. Bender checked in with eight points as Pinnacle (19-3, 10-2 ppg) bolted to a 25-7 lead after one period. The lead reached as many as 28 in the second half. Pickens finished with game-high 21 points and Bender totaled 13. Kevin Bowman chipped in with 10.

Horizon (7-10, 5-6 ppg) was led by Stepehen Staats with 14 points. Eric Lewis and Matt Lee scored 12 apiece.