Antelope Valley at Home on Road in Rout of Desert

The game of musical chairs finally came to an end Saturday night at Paraclete High, where Antelope Valley College emerged with a 128-105 win over College of the Desert in a Foothill Conference basketball contest.

The game was originally to have been played at Antelope Valley, but it conflicted with a symphony concert that had been scheduled at the Marauders’ gym.

Then, Antelope Valley Coach Newton Chelette, a former assistant at Nevada Las Vegas, arranged for the game to be played at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

But that plan was discouraged by the NCAA and the game was moved to Paraclete. The game site was almost switched again after the Paraclete gym was vandalized last weekend and both glass backboards were shattered.

So with all that confusion, who could blame the Desert team members for showing up dressed in their home uniforms instead of their road colors.

The Roadrunners also forgot their defense. Antelope Valley ran rampant over Desert, scoring mostly on short shots off the break and on open jump shots. The Marauders (23-6, 9-1 in conference play) cracked the 100-point barrier for the sixth time in seven games and the 11th time this season. The 128-point total is a season-high and ranks as third highest in the school’s history.

Tony Madison (25 points) led seven Antelope Valley players in double figures. Steve Walker (five blocks) added 19 points and Paul Ernst had 17.

Darren Thompson, Ernst and Dedan Thomas each had seven assists.

“We’re playing awfully well right now,” Chelette said. “We’re playing hard together as a team, that’s the key.

“We gave up more than 100 points, but I think if we keep playing with the intensity, I think the defense will take care of itself.”

Freshman forward Joe Mantashigian, who grabbed a game-high eight rebounds, echoed Chelette’s thoughts.

“We’re playing at our peak right now,” he said. “If we can tighten up on our defense, our offense will increase that much more.”

Antelope Valley connected on 47 of 93 shots from the field (50.5%) and 14 of 31 from three-point range (45.2%).

Ray Vasquez led Desert (17-11, 5-5) with 19 points.