After a competitive first half, the Mesa High Jackrabbits came alive and defeated the Skyline Coyotes 83-63 Tuesday evening.

Skyline (10-12 overall, 0-7 region) ran into foul problems but only trailed by a slim margin after the first half. But a subsequent cold shooting streak in the second half allowed visiting Mesa (17-5, overall 7-1 region) to pull away.

Skyline’s second leading scorer, sophomore guard J’Saan Strover, and another guard, Xavier McShall, each had three fouls called against them in the first half. Strover also had to briefly step out in the first quarter because of blood on his undershirt. 

But Skyline guard Ethan Wallace stepped in and led all scorers in the first half with 15 points. Mesa guard Mark Hatch led Mesa in the first half with nine points. 

Wallace’s inability to miss a shot in the first half kept the game close but Mesa head coach Shane Burcar adjusted his defense, shutting down Wallace for the remainder of the game. 

“That’s one of the best shooters I’ve seen all year,” Burcar said. “We know he can make shots, but we needed to limit his shots."

On the offensive side of the ball, Mesa center DJ Henderson led all scorers with 25 points.

A thunderous dunk in the third quarter brought the away crowd to their feet and left the Coyotes reeling. That dunk put a stamp on the third quarter, when Mesa outscored Skyline 28-16.

Mesa kept Skyline on its heels in the second half, with additional double-digit scoring efforts by Hatch and Xavier Fuller. 

The combination of Hatch and Henderson was often too much for the Skyline defense to handle, as Hatch was too quick for the perimeter defense and Henderson too strong to defend in the paint.

Mesa’s lone loss in region play came to Mesa Red Mountain, but it’s also thinking about another team as it gears up for the final stretch of the season. 

“We have our arch-rival Mountain View at our place to end the season. So that’s playoff basketball to end the season,” Burcar said.

Skyline, meanwhile, is learning what it takes to execute near the end of high pressure games under third-year coach James Capriotti.  

“We’re just not doing the little things that will get us the wins at the end,” Capriotti said.

Burcar left Skyline with words of encouragement for his opponent. 

This was the second meeting between the two teams, with Mesa taking both games.

“Coach Cap, good job. You’re doing it right. I respect the hell out of that,” Burcar said.

Gundran is a sports journalism student at Arizona State.