Basketball Recap: Las Vegas Comes Up Short

Las Vegas lost against Desert Oasis back in January of 2024 and unfortunately they wound up with the same result on Wednesday. The Las Vegas Wildcats were outmatched by the Desert Oasis Diamondbacks and fell 59-23. Having soared to a lofty 55 points in the game before, the Wildcats couldn't push the score so high this time.

Despite the loss, Las Vegas saw an underclassman step up: freshman Sariyah Johnson dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds. That was a full 60.9% of Las Vegas' points, marking the third time in a row she's posted more than a third of the team's points.

Desert Oasis' win was a true team effort, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Jasmine Bermudez, who went 5 of 9 on her way to 11 points and eight steals. The dominant performance gave Bermudez a new career-high in steals. Another player making a difference was Alyssa Atkins-Dowd, who went 6 for 13 en route to 13 points in addition to five boards and four steals.

Las Vegas' defeat was their third straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 4-17. As for Desert Oasis, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five matches, which provided a nice bump to their 13-9 record this season.

A feisty cat fight is on tap when the Las Vegas Wildcats duke it out with the Desert Pines Jaguars at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Desert Pines is strutting in with some offensive muscle as they've averaged 51.8 points per game this season. As for Desert Oasis, they will be playing in front of their home fans against Centennial at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. Centennial knows how to get points on the board -- the team has finished with 55 points or more in their past seven games -- so hopefully Desert Oasis likes a good challenge.