Pinnacle basketball coach Charlie Wilde wasn't a happy camper after watching his team trail Westview by seven points after the first half of Friday afternoon's title game of the Welcome to the Jungle Invite.

And even though Wilde has one of the youngest teams around, they are talented. He wanted more in the second half and got it.

Freshman Nico Mannion connected for 16 of his 20 points in the second half and the Pioneers made most of their free throws down the stretch to come away with a 73-68 victory over Westview at Gilbert High School.

Pinnacle posted a 4-0 mark in the tournament led by all-tournament team selections Mannion, sophomore Spencer Rattler and junior Mason Johnson.

"We weren't aggresive defensively the first half and at half time we had a little reminder," Wilde said. "When you defend better and get rebounds you can have a transition game. They were the more aggressive team the first half, and continued to play that way the second half. They played great. We finally decided to do things we need to do better."

Westview (3-1), sporting a bigger lineup than last year that's proven to coach Brendan McEvoy through four games it's going to be a tough defensive club, led all the way in the first half. It's biggest lead was 37-25 with just more than a minute left to intermission. Sophomore guard D'Maurian Williams relentless flow to the basket netted him a big first half with 12 points. Williams would finish with a game-high 27. Senior forward Brenden VanDyke, a 6-7 transfer from Paradise Valley, added 19 points.

The difference might well have been Pinnacle's depth as the Pioneers subbed in nearly everyone in the opening half with part of that Wilde's displeasure with a lack of aggressiveness. The mixing and matching of players throughout the second half -- going 10, 11, 12 deep seemed to take a toll.

"They're deep,' McEvoy, who believes a bounce-back season from 6-20 is on they way, said. "Mannion is a great player. A really good one. We gave great effort the entire game, but  toward the end we just ran out of gas....

"I saw the chemistry come together this fall and we've played together. Very cohesive."

Mannion scored 12 of 16 second-half points in the third period when Pinnacle caught and passed Westview. Pinnacle scored almost as many points (26) in the third period as it did the entire first half (30). The Pioneers took the lead for good at 49-48 on a three-point play by reserve Hayden Hatten, one of seven sophomores/freshmen seeing action. Pinnacle led 56-53 heading to the final period.

The Pioneers stretched the lead to as many as seven in the quarter, but it was 64-61 with 2:36 to play. As time wound down, Westview was forced to foul and sophomore Trent Brown (20 points) and Johnson (12 points) combined to make 9 of 10 free throws. Brown kept Pinnacle in the game with 14 of his points in the opening half. Mannion and Rattler  combined for just six points the first two quarters.