It was a little less than a month since the Grant Union faced Pilot Rock, and the boys basketball team was eager to avenge the 72-59 loss and, more importantly, reclaim their top spot in the 2A Blue Mountain Conference.

The Prospectors did both, defeating the Rockets 77-47 in a loud, packed gym at home.

“We’re back on top,” said senior Mason Gerry. “We had to win tonight to get back into first place.”

Junior Devon Stokes said the whole team came very prepared to get the victory.

Stokes said Friday’s game was big, and if the Pros lost, they would have been in a four-way tie for first in their league.

The Pros are now 9-2 in their league, while every other team in the division has four losses or more.

Stokes, along with teammate Jordan Hall, had one job. Keep Pilot Rock’s Jimmy Jones under 20 points. Which, was no easy task, said Stokes. The 5-foot-8 shooting guard scored 36 points in last month’s game.

“He’s a good player and knows how to read defenders and read screens, and I told myself that if he made a shot that I wouldn’t let it get into my head,” he said.

Both Hall and Stokes did their job and kept Jones to 18 points with six field goals, four three-point shots and two free-throws.

“Great players are going to score,” head coach RC Huerta said. “If you hold a great player to under 20 points, you’re doing good.”

Huerta said, while Hall did a great job, it was Stokes who mainly defended Jones.

“He is the best defensive player in the league,” Huerta said.

Stokes, who scored 15 points and had two assists in the contest, before the game said he was nervous, but at tip-off he took some deep breaths and focused on just doing his job.

The Pros jumped out in front early. By the end of the first period, the score was 22-13.

Huerta said he attributes the early lead to good defense.

“I have always believed that great defense leads to great offense,” Huerta said. “That is just the truth. When you play good solid defense, you get real excited and pumped up on the other side (offense), and you’ll do some really good damage.”

As a team, the Pros had 25 defensive rebounds and 11 steals.

With four of the starting five in double digits, the boys’ offensive numbers back up Huerta’s philosophy of “defense first and the rest follows.”

Senior Tristan Morris had a team-high 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while sophomores Mason Morris and Austin McKrola combined for 25 points.

The intense, fierce rivalry between the two teams, amplified by a winner-take-all scenario, made it all the more critical for the Pros to focus on the game plan and their respective jobs.

Huerta, concerned that his team had been too hyped up in previous games, had the boys listen to more relaxed music before the games to get them to focus.

Morris said the change in music really helped. Instead of loud rap music in the locker rooms, Morris said they were listening to old school classic rock, like Journey.

“We were much more chill in tonight’s game, and I really think that made a big difference,” Morris said.

The Pros carried the momentum into Saturday’s league game against Weston-McKewen, besting the Tigerscots 69-47, improving the Pros’ overall record to 14-6.

The Pros host Stanfield (12-10, 6-4) in their final home game and senior night Feb. 14. The boys tip-off at 7:30 p.m.