BulldogDesertPinesGame-01-15-16: Bulldog Marcus Saunders hits a three point shot against Desert Pines Friday night in the Dawg House. Photo by Lou Martin.

Bulldog Marcus Saunders hits a three point shot against Desert Pines Friday night in the Dawg House. Photo by Lou Martin.

The Virgin Valley High School Bulldogs had no answer for Desert Pines Capri Uzan Friday night, Jan. 15 in the Dawg House as Uzon put up 31 points to lead his Jaguars to a 69-54 win. The win keeps undefeated Desert Pines on top of Sunrise League standings with the Dawgs falling to 5-1.

“Uzan will probably be the league’s most valuable player this year,” said Bulldog coach Sean FitzSimons. “He can do it all; score, pass, rebound and defend with the best of them.”

The Bulldogs stayed with the Jaguars for most of the first half, trailing 14-11 after one period of play. Uzan’s sharp passing shredded the Dawgs defense for easy buckets to keep the Dawgs at bay.

Three balls by Hogan Fowles and Andrew Memmott slowed the Jaguars down making the score 24-21 late in the second period. Uzan took over, scoring the last nine points of the half to give the Jaguars a 37-24 advantage at the break. Uzan had 20 points for the Jaguars. Marcus Saunders led the Dawgs with seven points. The Dawgs seemed tentative, missing layups and committing turnovers during the first half.

The Jaguars and Dawgs battled evenly during third period play making the score 49-33. The Jaguars increased their lead to 61-35 early in the last period before Zack Barnum hit a four point play, Jarrett Tietjen added a three, Memmott a two and two more three-ball’s from Barnum cut the lead to 67-52 late in the game. The Dawgs finished with eight three-balls for the game.

Memmott led Bulldog scorers with 13 points followed by Barnum with 12. “The Jaguars surprised us, with a better defense than past years,” added coach FitzSimons. “They locked up our offense but I applaud our boys for battling back.”

The Dawgs travel to Boulder City on Jan. 19 and TECH on Jan. 21 before returning home to play Del Sol on Monday Jan. 25.