Desert Vista's girls basketball  team is making itself  heard of late. Becoming louder with each passing game. It would be wise for the opposition to take notice if they haven't already. 

The Lade Thunder blitzed Xavier with a 14-0 run to open the game Monday night and gradually added to that in a 74-44 romp in a Division I game at Xavier's Activity Center.

Desert Vista (17-8 overall, 11-6 in power-ranking games) won for the fifth time in six outings under new coach J'ontar Coleman. Those victories have come against decent and in some cases, perennial playoff contenders. None have been close. On Monday Desert Vista crippled Xavier from all angles. Kylie Butler led four players in double figures with 19 points. She also drew the bulk of defensive time on Xavier's Katie Werner, a 25-point-a-game staple. Werner finished with a team-high 16 points, but was just 3-of-12 from the field. Following Butler in scoring for Desert Vista were 6-4 sophomore post Kristine Anigwe (15), Emily Wolph (14) and Jayla Brown (11). Xavier got 12 points from Ashley Orozco.

"We look at every game now as a playoff game," Coleman said. "We've got something to prove and we're doing that. A lot of people have doubted us, counted us out. Not us. This game was special. Everybody had a good night."

Desert Vista was hanging around the 24th adn 25th seed in the power-rankings when Coleman assumed the reins. Since that time the Lady Thunder have climbed to No. 16 (entering Monday night), just four spots back of Xavier (17-7, 9-7 prg). Every win under Coleman has been by double-digits and the loss was by two points to Chandler with Anigwe, the team's second-leading scorer idled for the final time in a stretch of games dating back to the beginning of the new calendar year. Anigwe has been on the floor the past four games.

On Monday night, Butler got Desert Vista cooking with eight first-quarter points and a 14-0 lead four minutes into the contest. Xavier didn't score untilthe 3:20 mark of the period and trailed, 19-5, at the end of it. Werner managed only two points. The second quarter offense belonged to Wolph and Anigwe, who combined for 14 points as Desert Vista bumped the lead to 40-19 at intermission. Xavier had no meaningful response in the second half and a running clock (30-point lead) began when Desert Vista scored 30 seconds into the final quarter.

Desert Vista closes its regular-season on Wednesday  (Jan. 30) when it  hosts Ahwatukee rival Mountain Pointe in a rematch from nearly three weeks ago -- won by the Pride. Mountain Pointe, the top seed in Division I, Section 3,  is the next target Desert Vista (No. 4 seed in D-I, Sec. 3) so wants to conquer. Xavier has games the next  three nights to finish its regular season -- at Goldwater, at Boulder Creek and home vs. Chandler, respectively.

"Our confidence is so high right now," Coleman said. "We're loving the game, and  loving each other like a family."