Desert Vista (Brandon Clarke) falls to Corona Del Sol

Corona Del Sol turned back Desert Vista High last night 71-57. CDS has a 6-foot-7 forward who has signed with New Mexico plus a freshman big (already with offers from UCLA, Arizona, Connecticut, New Mexico and more) and a sophomore point (whose recruiting will go national). The game was a sellout, 3,000 in attendance.

SJSU signee Brandon Clarke scored 12 points.

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Sophomore point guard Alex Barcello tried to silence Phoenix Desert Vista's big student section with two 3s to open Tuesday's battle between the top two ranked boys basketball teams in the state.

After host Tempe Corona del Sol got to 12 points, its student section, dressed in black, let out a roar on "Silent Night."

It got louder from there, and top-ranked Corona del Sol held back No. 2 Desert Vista for a 71-57 Division I victory.

Barcello finished with 31 points, including eight points during a two-minute stretch in the fourth quarter that gave Corona del Sol (21-1) a 53-44 lead after Desert Vista (20-2) had gotten within four.

Corona del Sol hasn't lost at home since December 2010.

"I just took what they gave me," Barcello said. "They started double-teaming me in the second half and I just kicked it out to my teammates."

It was an overall great defensive effort that kept quick and aggressive Desert Vista at bay.

Leading scorer Brandon Clarke didn't have a big impact offensively until a quick flourish late in the third quarter when Desert Vista was trying to get out of a 13-point hole.

Clarke, who had 12 points, picked up his fourth foul with seven minutes left.

He returned a minute later, after 6-foot-10 freshman Marvin Bagley III returned after sitting the first two minutes of the quarter.

Bagley didn't have one of his better offensive games but he impacted it defensively, along with wing Dane Kuiper (15 points) and guard Tyrell Henderson (12 points).

Bagley and Kuiper both scraped the glass in the second quarter to reject shots. Henderson blocked three shots in the second half. Corona del Sol disrupted Desert Vista's offensive flow, as players rushed awkward shots.

Bordow: Attitude, talent stand out for Bagley

"We couldn't get the offense in a rhythm because of some other things, the environment," Desert Vista coach Tony Darden said.

There was a line wrapped halfway around Corona del Sol's gym 40 minutes before the game to get into a gym that was already packed for the 4 o'clock freshman game.

"We tell our kids, 'A lot of times we're going to be fighting more than five guys'," Darden said. "We just had other things we had to overcome."