SOPHOMORE JIMMY NERI BUCKETS TWO ON MONDAY NIGHT WHEN DENAIR’S COYOTES CAME TO TOWN. THE JUNIOR VARSITY SQUAD BEAT THE COYOTES BEFORE THE VARSITY GAME HAD TO BE CANCELLED BECAUSE THERE WERE NO OFFICIALS. GAZETTE PHOTO BY DAN TUCKER Sophomore Quinn Chaney paced Mariposa’s junior varsity basketball team in its last two Southern Athletic League wins. The Grizzlies dispatched Denair on Monday night, 58-33, and upended a scrappy Turlock Christian squad on Tuesday evening, 58-48.

The wins keep Mariposa perfect in league play at 7-0, and the win over TC’s Eagles was its 14th straight.

TC, which Mariposa handily beat in their first meeting this season, bounced out for an early 17-8 first quarter lead.

In the second stanza, head coach Mark Abney switched to a man-to-man defense, and the Eagles could muster just 4 points while the Grizzlies drained the nets for 18 to take a 26-21 lead to the locker room at the intermission.

The Grizzlies pulled away in the third quarter, pushing their lead to as much as 16 points at one time. Sophomore guard Tim DeSandres drilled three 3-point shots in the period and scored 11 for the game, all in the third as Mariposa outscored its host, 20-4 in that stanza.

Chaney finished with 14 points on the night, and Jimmy Neri pumped in 13 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Sophomore Wyatt Ellis popped the net for 10 points and dished out 9 assists.

Against Denair on Monday, the contest was close through the first half with Mariposa holding a narrow, 22-19, edge at the half.

The Grizzlies blew the game open in the third period and polished it off in the fourth with a 22-7 run to end the game.

Chaney poured through 17 points and collected 10 caroms. Neri added 13 points, Garhett Bauer worked the paint for 9, DeSandres hit for 8, and Ellis bucketed 8 points, pulled down 8 rebounds, and notched 7 assists.

Mariposa travels to Le Grand on Friday for another SAL test, and meets Delhi on the Hawks’ home court on Saturday.