The Mountain View Toros avenged a midseason loss to its cross-town rival after defeating Mesa 45-37 Tuesday night.

“Well, they did it to us, about two and a half weeks ago,” Mesa Mountain View coach Gary Ernst said. “I didn’t like that one, but this one was nice. Our kids played really well.” 

The road victory improved Mountain View’s overall record to 16-7 overall and 7-3 in its section, but 18-8 Mesa still remains in second place in the East Valley Region with an 8-2 mark. 

Besides looking to improve their power ranking, the teams also wanted to start building some momentum for a potential playoff run.

On Tuesday, Mountain View found its groove first, scoring early and often. It took the lead early against the Jackrabbits and never trailed during the game.

“I told them at halftime that they would make a run," Ernst said. "They did last time and we didn’t respond. They did this time and we responded."

Mesa cut the deficit to as little as three points by the end of the third quarter, but it was unable to take the lead in the fourth due to its several turnovers and lack of rebounding presence.

“Our will to win tonight, I would question that. We got two defensive rebounds in the first half,” Mesa coach Shane Burcar said. “It’s very disappointing how soft we were with the basketball.”

To add salt to the wound, Mountain View’s large crowd in the away stands swarmed the Toros after their win.

“It feels good, after losing to them at home,” sophomore Zach Lyons said. “We had to get some revenge and came out with the W.”

Lyons played an instrumental role in keeping Mesa senior D.J. Henderson in check throughout the game.

Mesa usually looks to run its offense through Henderson.

This was the third loss in a row for Mesa, which has one regular season game left to play.

“I’m very disappointed in our guys,” Burcar said. “We have to watch some film and get better.”

Mountain View on the other hand has won four in a row with one regular season game also left on its schedule.

“In practice we just keep working hard and keep doing our best,” Lyons said. “We’re feeling hot right now so we’re going to keep this win streak going.”