On Thursday, January 12th, the Verrado Vipers played the Desert Edge Scorpions at home in the Viper Pit. Going into this game the Vipers were 8-7 after winning their last 2 games by huge margins and were looking to add another huge win to the books. 

The Viper Times got the opportunity to speak with coach Marks, Verrado’s head coach, and ask him what their main focus was when it came to overcoming Desert Edge. His response was, “…we were focused on … what we needed to do to execute and play with great energy. One thing that we did concentrate on was being able to break their 1-2-2 half-court trap.” 

 The game started and the Vipers won the tipoff, shortly after, the Vipers got off to a hot start in the first quarter scoring 21 points to their opponents’ 8. Their full-court defense and smooth passing allowed them to trample over Desert Edge with ease. 

One individual that put on a show for both sides of the ball was Zaveion Bineyard. He totaled 11 points, 4 steals, and 2 rebounds. Another big contributor in the first quarter was Samson Chabala. He put up 7 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 steal. 

When the second quarter began, the boys were firing on all cylinders. Efficient scoring backed up with strong defense was the key to their success. Everyone was rotating to the open man on defense and passing to the open man on offense. 

By the end of the half, the Vipers scored 23 more points, extending their total points to 44. Desert Edge could only score 14 more this half, extending their total to 22. This huge lead of over 20 points would not be possible without Zaveion Bineyard and Rocco Cava. Zaveion led this quarter in points and rebounds, scoring 14 points and securing 3 boards. Rocco led this quarter in assists by acquiring 3 while also grabbing 2 rebounds.

Even though they were playing very well, there were still some things that the team had to work on. When coach Marks was asked what the team needed to work on in the second half he gave this response, “…We want to be a little more patient …, but aggressive while being smart.” 

As the third quarter went underway, the Vipers would begin to struggle. They were rushing shots and not taking many good shots. Their defense started slacking and they started giving up buckets. Thankfully, about halfway through the quarter,  the team would begin to pick up the slack, gain back composure, and play as a team again.

The Vipers scored 17 more points by the end of the quarter while the Scorpions only scored 13. Two people who played a huge part in helping find the team’s composure were Samson Chabala and Eric Carrillo. Samson went 3-3, scoring 6 points and grabbing 2 rebounds. Eric had a huge defensive presence acquiring 5 rebounds and 1 block while also scoring 4 points. 

During the 4th quarter, the Vipers’ offense slowed down as they were struggling to close out the game. They were passing the ball well, but they were not taking good shots.

When the final buzzer went off, the Vipers scored a total of 15 points in the quarter and ended with a final score of 76. The Scorpions only scored 14 points in the 4th and ended with a total score of 49. The 2 men who helped solidify this dub in the 4th were Cristian Rubio and Cohen Miceli. Cristian led the quarter in points, scoring 6, while Cohen had the second highest, scoring 4.

Overall, it was a good win for the Vipers and they played very well despite some errors late in the game. Coach Mark’s response to the late game struggles was, “Toward the end of the game, time matters more than the score when you have a big lead, so we wanted to work on closing out basketball games and not give an opportunity to come back.”