Richard Smith

West Valley Preps

Perhaps the team stat sheets listing only one player averaging double figures in points should have been a tipoff.

The Cactus and Sunrise Mountain girls basketball teams built their winning records on defense. Both squads took that to the extreme Tuesday night.

That lone double-digit scorer, Cobras junior Jahleza Clark, sprung to life in the final 90 seconds with six of her eight points. Her outback of her own miss and layup after stealing a pass allowed Cactus (14-4, 5-0 West Valley Region) to breathe easy late in its 32-27 road win.

Sunrise Mountain (10-9, 2-2) cut its deficit to 22-21 earlier in the fourth on a three-point shot by senior Julia Starr. But the Mustangs were snuffed out by three blocked shots from interior defenders like senior forward Atlantis Jiles and sophomore center Olivia Lee.

"We spend a lot of time working on weakside rotation and just kind of constantly scrambling," Cactus coach Justin Shaver said. "It helps when you have Atlantis, who's one of the best shot blockers I've seen, and Olivia, who's pretty good herself."

The Mustangs nearly matched the Cobras stop for defensive stop. After ward, both coaches mentioned that the teams had an inordinate amount of good looks rim out.

Shaver said that has been the case most of the season for a program that otherwise continues to improve. Clark's late spurt left her as the Cobras' second-leading scorer, behind sophomore guard Myla Lee (nine points, six rebounds).

"(Sunrise Mountain did a good job of keeping us out of the key," Shaver said. "That's been the story of the year as far as getting good looks but them not falling."

Jennifer Tolle, in her seventh year as the Mustangs coach, said the defense has been a work in progress, but has markedly improved as the season went along.

She took her team to watch the Westmount College at Arizona Christian University basketball game Saturday night, and the girls learned the importance of talking on defense.

"It was a struggle for us early on," Tolle said. "One of the takeaways from that game was, 'Man, that Westmount team never shuts up.'"

Though her team was not quite ready to knock off the defending region champs, Tolle said she is nothing but pleased with how these girls have turned the program around.

Sophomore guard Tern Demaree (eight points, six rebounds) and juniors Isabel Coady (nine rebounds) and Kendra Fowler (seven rebounds) were among the bright sports for the home team.

Sunrise Mountain finished 9-16 last season and has not posted a winning record since 2013-14. With Starr as the only senior on the roster, there is ample reason to believe this season is only the start of the Mustangs' renaissance.

"They've grown in every way you an possible grow," Tolle said. "I have never seen such a 180 from one season to the next."