Wednesday, the Twentynine Palms High School junior varsity and varsity boys’ basketball teams traveled to Cathedral City for a Desert Valley league matchup with the Lions. Varsity won 65-59; junior varsity won 68-35.
Coach Michael Usher said varsity entered the night tied with the Lions at 4-0 atop the DVL standings. After a hard-fought, exciting game, the ’Cats came home with a 65-59 victory.
Up by one point entering the fourth quarter, the Wildcats asserted themselves on the defensive end, and broke a 58-58 tie with 30 seconds left when Junior Jacob Hueso hit a 3-point basket in the corner to take the lead 61-58.
On the ensuing possession, Hueso stole the ball, and passed to senior Kamron Luna on the break for a thunderous one-handed dunk to put the game away for good.
The Wildcats were led by Luna with 17 points, Hueso with 15, and seniors Saiz Aguilar and Troy Tuivaiti with 12 and 11 points respectively. Senior Gabe Villescas played outstanding on ball defense all game to change the course of the game.
Junior varsity won 68-35, and were led by freshmen PJ Horn and Micah Deibert with 11 points each. The win improves JV to 8-4 overall and a perfect 5-0 in DVL play.
The win brings the Wildcats’ record to 9-8 overall, and 5-0 and in sole possession of first place in the Desert Valley League. The Wildcats return home Friday to host Banning; JV at 4:30 and varsity at 7:30.
