Basketball Game Preview: Desert Pines Jaguars vs. Spring Valley Grizzlies

The Desert Pines Jaguars will challenge the Spring Valley Grizzlies at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Both are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.

Spring Valley better have a healthy lead at halftime, because if last week is any indication, that's when Desert Pines really get things going. Everything went Desert Pines' way against Arbor View on Wednesday as Desert Pines made off with a 77-52 victory. The Jaguars' win was nothing new given the team hasn't lost yet this season.

Mya Harper

Rebounds (Career)

12/11/24 @ Arbor View	6
12/06/24 vs Palo Verde	5
12/18/23 vs McClintock	5
12/02/23 vs Cheyenne	5
12/20/23 vs Corona del Sol	3

Mya Harper and Anaiah Brown were among the main playmakers for Desert Pines as the former went 8 of 15 en route to 22 points along with six boards and five assists and the latter went 7 of 10 on her way to 16 points and seven rebounds. Those six rebounds gave Harper a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Ashanti Stewart, who posted ten points and seven rebounds.

While Spring Valley didn't have the best season last year (they finished 9-16), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past. They blew past Clark 55-18 on Wednesday. Given the Grizzlies' advantage in MaxPreps' Nevada basketball rankings (they are ranked eighth, while the Chargers are ranked 51st), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

Desert Pines better keep an eye on Mia Ervin. She was instrumental in Spring Valley's win, putting up 17 points. The team also got some help courtesy of Miyanna Stephens, who had ten points.

Spring Valley's victory was their fourth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 4-1. The wins came thanks to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 54.5 points per game. As for Desert Pines, their win bumped their record up to 3-0.

Desert Pines took their victory against Spring Valley in their previous matchup back in January by a conclusive 71-50. The rematch might be a little tougher for Desert Pines since the squad won't have the home-court advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.