Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

high school basketball:

Catch them if you can: Fast-paced Desert Pines basketball again a state favorite

High School Basketball Teams

Christopher DeVargas

Desert Pines High basketball players, from left, Trevon Abdullah, Coby Myles and Capri Uzan.

Desert Pines 2014-15 season preview

This loss wasn’t easy to recover from.

Desert Pines, the 2013 Division I-A state champions, came up short in its title defense against Elko in last season’s state semifinals. The game wasn’t close, actually, with the Jaguars losing 63-47.

“Losing like that to Elko kind of makes you mad,” said Coby Myles, Desert Pines’ senior guard. “It gives you a reality check on your team.”

It also gives Desert Pines motivation for this season.

Desert Pines prides itself in playing pressure defense and using turnovers to create easy baskets in transition. They averaged about 70 points per game last season, but had just 16 first-half points against Elko.

Maybe it was Desert Pines players looking ahead to a potential championship game rematch against Clark, its Las Vegas area rival who they defeated in the prior season’s state championship game. Or, maybe Elko was the better team.

Regardless, they learned a valuable lesson in defeat — something they can draw from this season.

“It gives you the mindset of not taking anything for granted,” Desert Pines coach Mike Uzan said. “We took that game for granted a little bit.”

Desert Pines should again advance to the state tournament, especially with the players in its backcourt. Myles and sophomore Capri Uzan, coach Uzan’s son, combine to form one of the best backcourts in the classification. When they go to bench, Desert Pines has plenty of more weapons to give them the personnel to play at such a fast-pace.

“We are going to be young, but pretty athletic and pretty fast,” coach Uzan said.

Desert Pines is undefeated in Division I-A Sunrise League games since being reassigned to the classification two seasons ago. It likely won’t be challenged again this season, putting more emphasis making improvements during practice. Uzan’s practices resemble how Desert Pines plays — fast-paced and intense.

“We try to prepare and make our practice as difficult as possible,” the coach said. “Hopefully it makes the game a little easier for us.”

While Desert Pines has proven commodities at guard, it lacks experience on the inside and could struggle with rebounding.

Forward Nate Grimes, a three-star recruiting prospect who signed with Fresno State, transferred to a prep school in North Carolina to leave a big void in the post. But Trevon Abdullah, a 6 foot 5 sophomore forward who has a scholarship offers from New Orleans, Northern Colorado and Southern Utah, is poised from a breakout season and could pickup the slack.

And Anthony Smith and Marckell Grayson, two standouts on the Desert Pines football team, should have a similar impact with the basketball team, especially in fighting for rebounds.

“When we get boards, we push the ball (up the court) and get out and run,” Capri Uzan said.

They’ll likely again run uncontested to the state tournament, probably meeting Clark along the way. Well, unless Elko comes calling again.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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