VISTA -- With only one returning starter from last year's 19-win squad, Terry Miller knows his boys basketball team at Rancho Buena Vista High needs as much game experience as possible.

So while most other teams are taking a few days off after two weeks of tournament play, the Longhorns took on San Diego Southwest and pulled out a 71-61 win in a nonleague affair on Friday night.

"We have an urgency on improving because our league is so tough," Miller said. "This team is young and they are learning. We are very inexperienced and we need to gain experience, and a game like this will help."

The Longhorns (8-6) jumped out to an early lead, outscoring the Raiders 10-0 to open the game. By the time Southwest got on the board, nearly four minutes had elapsed.

But even though they trailed 20-7 going after one quarter, the Raiders (3-7) didn't let up in the second quarter, turning the tide with a 11-2 run to end the quarter to pull within two points. Laurence Degracia scored 15 of his game-high 32 points in the quarter.

"We know we can't let down like that," Miller said. "If we let down like we did in those eight minutes in league, we'll get killed."

The Longhorns rebounded in the third quarter as they went on a 9-2 run to open the second half. They put the game out of reach, taking a 50-37 lead after Ben Burris made back-to-back free throws and Paul Couts made a field goal to end the third quarter.

Longhorns sophomore Johnny Dee went on a streak of his own during the fourth quarter, making four straight field goals to match the streaking Raiders. Rancho Buena Vista saw its lead trimmed to seven points with two minutes remaining, but held Southwest scoreless until the final seconds to preserve the win. Miller said inconsistency has been the Longhorns' Achilles' heal.

"It's been our big problem," Miller said. "That's part of the learning curve. But we've had 14 games so far and this feels like the fifth time where we've let a team back into the game. I hope we can pick it up soon."

Tyler Downs led Rancho Buena Vista with 17 points, followed by Dee and Jon Hernandez with 15 each.

"We definitely need games like this," said Hernandez. "Any time you get a win over 10 points, it is a good win for the team.

"This game gives us that winning spirt and will help us get ready for our very tough league."

Contact staff writer Matt Null at mnull@nctimes.com.