Antelopes Rebound, Hold Off Hart, 59-56

Although its offense often sputtered, Antelope Valley High regained some of the respect it recently lost by holding off a late Hart surge for a 59-56 nonleague victory Tuesday night .

Just five days ago, the Antelopes (11-3) were humiliated in a 46-point loss to Cleveland. But they bounced back well at Hart.

“That Cleveland game took us out real bad,” said guard Jabbar Briggs, who finished with 12 points Tuesday. “We had to rebound. That’s what we’re capable of and that’s what we did.”

With a minute to play and Hart trailing, 57-53, the Indians worked for a shot but were unable to find one for 30 seconds. Finally, three players set a screen at the top of the key, allowing Micah Ohlman to unload a 23-foot, three-point bomb that cut the deficit to a point.

Antelope Valley turned the ball over and the Indians had a chance to take their first lead since the first quarter. After a timeout, however, Ohlman fouled B. J. Petersen. Ohlman made amends by grabbing the rebound when Petersen missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Hart (11-4) called a timeout with 10 seconds to play but turned the ball over after Briggs batted it from Renato Rivas’ hands.

Bobby Paiz, who was fouled with five seconds left, made both free throws to ice the victory.

Brock Chase scored six of his 10 points in the final quarter to pace the Antelopes. Rivas scored eight points in the final quarter, but the Indians were otherwise limited to Ohlman’s three-point basket and a field goal by Marty Downen.

Hart Coach Greg Herrick, whose squad also lost to Cleveland, was not impressed by either team Tuesday.

“Everything you could possibly do poorly, we did,” Herrick said. “Two high-powered, up-tempo teams and it’s 59-56? I can’t believe Antelope Valley can apply more pressure than Cleveland. We just fell apart.”

Chris Walters led all scorers with 17 points for the Antelopes. Downen and Rivas paced Hart with 12 points each.