Pinnacle boys rally from 10 back, end Desert Mtn. win-streak

January 21, 2013 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365


Pinnacle' boys basketball team had been shredded in the lane all game long by Desert Mountain point guard Rolando Rhymes and trailed 44-34 with a few minutes left in the third period where Rhymes had racked up 23 points.

From there the game changed and went Pinnacle's way.  With some top-notch guard play from junior Trey Ingram and stepped up second-half efforts from standouts Dorian Pickens and Drew Bender Pinnacle roared from behind to post a 67-62 victory Monday night at the 10th annual  Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Classic at Wells Fargo Arena.

Ingram's three-point shot to open the final period put Pinnacle ahead to stay, 50-47, with 7:06 to play and the Pioneers went on to end Desert Mountain's 12-game winning streak making eight free throws in the .70 seconds.

Ingram scored a season-high 25 points (12 in the first half and 13 in the second). Pickens and Bender, the team's top scorers who were limited to a combined eight points in the first half, coimbined fro 20 after intermission. Bender 's second three of the game with 2:01 left boosted Pinnacle's lead to 59-54. Bender added three free throws and Pickens two to close out Desert Mountain. Pinnacle is now 15-6, 10-3 and 10-3 in power-ranking games as it jockeys for position among a tough field in Section 3 of Division I. Desert Mountain dropped to 17-3 overall and 11-2 in prg.

In other MLK games at Wells Fargo Arena:

Dobson's Jaron Hopkins snapped a 51-all tie with a layup with 30 seconds left and then made a steal in the final 5 seconds to lift the Mustangs to a 53-51 victory over Highland in the second of three boys games .

Hopkins finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds as Dobson barely hung on to a 44-32 lead heading to the final perioed. Dobson (15-8, 9-5 power-ranking games) got 13 points from Ryan Richardson and 11 from Kodi Justice in beating Highland for the second time this season. Highland's comeback was paced by a great effort from 6-foot-5 junior Jake Toolson. Toolson netted 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Toolson scored 18 of his points in the second half.  Toolson tied the game twice in the final minutes on a 3-point play with 2:38 left and then again with 51 seconds to play. Highland is 15-7 overall and 9-5 in power-ranking games.

In the first boys game of the day, Paradise Valley used good scoring balance and  pulled away late from Coconino for a 67-59 victory.

Paradise Valley (17-5 overall, 10-3 power-ranking games) led just 56-54 with three minutes left. PV expanded the lead from that point to any many as nine before settling for the seven-point win over Coconino (17-6, 12-3 prg). Both teams shot 50 percent or better from the field.

Watson, who has signed with Fresno State, led Paradise Valley with 17 points and was followed by Anthony Walker (13) and Ryan Finley and Cedric Jacobs-Jones 12 points apiece. Coconino had three players tally in double figures -- Josh Ingram (180, Andy Bonner (17) and Skyler Zweifel (15).