Indio boys' basketball stays undefeated in DVL with lopsided win over Twentynine Palms
Indio High School's boys' basketball team has been a team on a mission this season, dominating opponents on a nightly basis. The Rajahs continued that trend Tuesday evening with another Desert Valley League win, beating Twentynine Palms 92-50.
The Rajahs improved to 17-4 overall, 7-0 in DVL play, while the Wildcats fell to 6-13 overall, 5-2 in DVL play.
Indio has been a force within the DVL the last couple seasons. Due to COVID, last season's league schedule was shortened from 14 games to seven, but regardless the Rajahs won the league title by going 7-0. The Rajahs have won 14 league games in a row with their most recent loss being the last game of the 2020-21 season against Banning.
The Rajahs started Tuesday's home contest off at a blazing pace, scoring 30 points in the first period alone while only allowing eight. They entered halftime up 55-21 and never looked back, with the second half of the contest being more of the same.
Despite Indio's dominance, head coach Ivery Thompson made it known that winning these regular season games is not their end goal.
"We feel confident in what we're doing, but we still have a lot more work to do," Thompson said. "We're just in one league, there's a lot of leagues, it's all about the playoffs for us. We're just trying to get better everyday, work on something different every game.
"This is a special team, our goal is to win a CIF title," Thompson said. "It's more than winning the DVL for us. I'd rather lose the DVL if we could win a CIF."
The moment
It is tough to pick a moment in a game filled with them on the Rajahs' side of the ball, but what defined the night the most was Indio's senior point guard Leetron Turner drilling a deep three at the buzzer to end the first period 30-8. Indio's shots were falling all night, and a lot of that has to do with the confidence they built in the first period.
The stars
Senior point guard Leetron Turner has been Indio's best player all season, and Tuesday night was a prime example. Turner scored a game-high 28 points, scoring in a variety of ways. On top of the scoring, he showed off his passing, creating opportunities for his teammates. Not only did he produce offensively, he also had multiple blocks and steals, creating a problem for the Wildcats all night.
Senior guard Jacob Canizales and junior Jayden Gonzalez showed why Indio has put up 100-plus point games multiple times this season. They each scored 23 points. Canizales made most of his money from beyond the arc and slashing to the rim, while Gonzalez did his work by finishing tough shots at the rim and being efficient from midrange.
Despite the blowout, Twentynine Palms senior point guard Micah Deibert put up a solid performance. Deibert scored 14 points off of his aggressive play at the rim. He drew a couple of fouls and made multiple free throws to go along with some aggressive defense.
The chatter
Indio head coach Ivery Thompson on what went well and what the team needs to improve on:
"We shot the ball well in the first half, and it really brought our confidence up. We just need to work on the little things, we need to be more sound defensively. We definitely need to get better defensively, 110%. There's so many good teams out there that require us to be better in the paint."
Twentynine Palms head coach Antoine Kilgore on the loss:
"We still have a lot of work to do. We're a young old team. We've got nine seniors but only two of them played varsity basketball before this year. It's a lot of learning for all of us. As a first-year coach, it's been a struggle. I'm not used to the losing side, but at the end of the day I know we're all learning, and we'll grow from this."
What's next?
Indio (17-4, 7-0 DVL) plays at Yucca Valley on Thursday.
Twentynine Palms (6-13, 5-2 DVL) plays at home against Desert Hot Springs on Thursday.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Indio boys basketball stays unbeaten in DVL action
