The one area for Mesa Mountain View in its boys basketball game Monday night that was consistent was not one a coach wants.

In the Toros case it was turnovers. Those - produced in great part by Mesa High's pressure on defense - were the deciding factor as the Jackrabbits and an all-around game from Jahii Carson topped Mountain View, 67-60, in the final and marquee game of the 2011 Martin Luther King Basketball Classic at Wells Fargo Arena.

Mountain View committed 21 turnovers to just five for Mesa. The Toros were called for two 10-second violations adn needed a time out to escape netting a third in the second half. Those went to negating the size and rebounding edge the Toros amassed. Leading pretty much the entire game until early in the fourth, miscues ended Mountain View's winning streak at four games and stretched the Jackrabbits current run of wins to four.

Carson, who came up big last year when the teams met at the MLK and Mesa prevailed, 54-52, scored 31 points this time. Thirteen of those came in the final period, including 7-of-8 from the free-throw line in the final 1:40 of the game. It wasn't Carson's offense that pleased Mesa coach Shane Burcar the most - it was the pressure the Jackarabbits generated.

"Defense has changed everything for us," Burcar said.

Burcar's call for improved defense and toughness two weeks ago after a loss to Pinnacle has been present in the Jackrabbits' recent streak of wins over Tucson, Brophy, Desert Vista and Mountain View.

Some offensive help from Carson's teammates didn't  hurt Mesa either. Backcourt mate Desmond Medder finished with 18 points, nine in the first period, to keep Mesa within 20-13 after the first period. Medder also made 4-of-4 free throws in the final two minutes. Carson distributed the ball plenty, particularly in the third period when penetration, pin-point passes and layups were the end result on baskets by Anthony Garcia and Trent Molesworth.

Molesworth layup with 6:35 lett in the final period gave Mesa its biggest lead of the night (50-47). That lead was never less the rest of the way thanks to the Jackrabbits' spread and its ability to take care of the ball and make free throws. Mesa finished the night 17-of-20 from the line.

"The turnovers, that was the game," Mountain View coach Gary Ernst said. "We lost two big leads early in the game because of turnovers, and in the end we lost the game because of them."

Jaren Sweeney led Mountain View with 19 points and Kyle Bingham and Cam Boone added 12 apiece. Boone and Bingham scored within five feet on all their baskets. They just didn't get enough chances thanks to the minus-16 differential in turnovers.

"We're not the No. 1 teams in the state," Ernst said. "You have to play much better on the perimeter than we have. We have to handle pressure better."