WADDELL – Four senior girls were honored Friday Night at Canyon View Arena. Flowers and cheers weren’t the only things they received. Caidyn Spickler, Madison Jacobs, Taylor Jacobs, and Angelina Thiel also earned a girls basketball victory over their 5A Desert West region rival Verrado, 46-33.

It was a tale of two halves for both teams as Canyon View guard Madison Reibel opened the scoring with a deep three from the top of the arc. Unfortunately for the Jaguar sophomore, it was all downhill from there as she failed to hit another outside shot in her next seven attempts. At 13.3 points per game, Reibel entered the game as the leading scorer for the Jaguars and sixth-highest scorer in Division 5A Desert West.

Fortunately for Canyon View, senior forward Taylor Jacobs picked up the slack in more ways than one, amassing 12 points, seven rebounds, and a handful of assists. Jaguar head coach Desirae Carranza leaned heavily on Jacobs for interior offense.

“We said we needed an inside presence,” Carranza said. “We wanted to get the ball around the rim a little bit. That’s where we were successful because our outside shots weren’t falling, so we wanted to get (Jacobs) to the basket.”

Jacobs credited her teammates and the home crowd for her impressive performance.

“They were pushing me,” Jacobs said. “The crowd energy was huge tonight and I feel like that really drove me to go to the bucket and get easy points.”

Jacobs and company didn’t truly hit their stride until the second half. The first half of basketball was plagued with turnovers, missed shots, and fouls. Both teams struggled to find a rhythm offensively in the first quarter, combining for 19 points after eight minutes.

Verrado took advantage in the second quarter. The Vipers capitalized on a plethora of defensive miscues from Canyon View. Verrado headed to the free throw line more than 10 times thanks to rack attacks from Amaya Felix and Janae Byrd.

Felix and Byrd entered tonight’s contest as two of the top five scorers in the region at 16 and 14 points per game, respectively. They needed to pull above their weight because Verrado senior guard Kaisha Henry, the region’s leading scorer, sat out tonight with a lower body injury.

The Vipers led Canyon View 21-20 at the half. Coach Carranza knew her squad would have to make adjustments on both sides of the ball if they wanted to win.

“One thing we talked about going into the locker room was taking care of the ball,” Carranza said. “We had to quit reaching and move our feet more, so I think we did better that third quarter.”

The Jaguars successfully adjusted in the third,  implementing a full-court press which stifled the Viper attack. It resulted in fewer fouls and more steals. Their defense turned into offense as they began to make the extra pass and found the open shooter. Senior guard Caidyn Spickler commended her team for adapting on the fly.

“Everybody was more aggressive, and we were passing the ball faster,” Spickler said. “I think our ball movement and our defense really helped us out there.”

With 4:50 remaining in the third quarter, disaster stuck Verrado.

The Vipers' Amaya Felix grabbed an outlet pass from Laci London and dribbled down the court going coast to coast. Driving to the paint, Felix attempted a dribble hesitation move, but rolled her ankle right on the free throw line. She immediately left the game and would not return.

The Viper’s chances went from slim to none with 5:24 left in the fourth quarter. Janae Byrd accumulated her fifth foul fighting for a loose ball with Mia Burgess of Canyon View. Verrado had no remaining substitutes and was forced to play with four girls the rest of the game.

Canyon View outscored Verrado 15-4 in the fourth quarter and sealed the deal with late deep balls from Caidyn Spickler and Ella Seymour.

The Jaguars (20-2, 5-2) will make the long trek to the state border Tuesday as they face Lake Havasu (2-17, 0-6) in Lake Havasu City. Meanwhile, the Vipers (12-11, 4-4) will face Millennium, the 5A Desert West powerhouse, Tuesday on the road in Goodyear.