Transition and rebounding. Lots of it in the first half.

That was the impetus Wedneday night  for Arcadia's girls basketball team in knocking off Desert Mountain, 54-34, to win the title of its 8th annual Lady Titan Classic at Arcadia HS.

Arcadia is enjoying tremendous success as the three-day tournament added five wins to its overall record which is now 15-1.  The Lady Titans have won 12 games in a row. Arcadia notched wins over Peoria, Verrado, North and Horizon prior to the final.

Desert Mountain isn't shabby, either, with a 11-4 record after a 4-1 effort in the tournament. The Wolves, under new coach Alicia Sanchez, who came over from Liberty, defeated Central, St.. Mary's, Pinnacle and Shadow Mountain to get to the title game. It was the second runner-up finish in a week for Desert Mountain. The Wolves lost in the Nike TOC bracket final to neighboring Chaparral on Dec. 22.

"They got in some foul trouble early and we decided to go at them aggressively," Arcadia coach Ives Machiz said. "We were able to run and rebounded well. Controlled the tempo. That was a goal of ours in the games this week. We had a tough semifinal today we had to rally to win. This one we got out front early, and controlled it."

Junior guard Bryce Nixon and junior wing Cassidy Campbell -- team co-captains -- dropped in 16 points apiece to lead Arcadia. They played a huge part of the transition game that opened up a big lead at the half of 33-15. Arcadia netted 22 points in the second period. Nixon and Campbell ended up with most of the transition buckets. 

Juniof Lauren Dib was a nice complement with 12 points. She connected on 6 of 12 shots -- all inside -- and worked the boards well along with Campbell and guard Taylor Houser.

Desert Mountain's top scorer, Rayah Craig, led the offense as usual. She had a tough time, however, getting untracked. She picked up two fouls in the first period and did not score. She ended up tallying seven points in the first half and tried to rally the Wolves with a 10-point third period Desert Mountain sliced an 18-point deficit to 11 a couple times in the third period, but couldn't get the margin under 10. Craig's game total equaled what the rest of the team supplied (17).