The holiday basketball season is a good way to add length to the bench because a loss doesn’t hurt postseason chances.

Coaches can mix and match lineups to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s a chance to experiment to fully understand different combos heading into the last month or so of the season.

“We love who we have with a good number of kids on the bench,” Mountain View coach Mandi Carson said. “We are trying to find some good combinations, kids who work well together. We have defensive lineups, great offensive lineups and finding that balance is what we are looking for right now.”

The Nike Tournament of Champions, which is being held through Monday at Arizona Athletic Grounds in Mesa, is a good spot to find out what the mix and match looks like.

Especially, when the opponent also happens to be a region team that’s on the schedule twice at the end of the regular season.

Mountain View handled 6A East Valley Region foe Dobson 63-35 on Friday as part of round robin play in the Derril Kipp bracket. The Toros hit a barrage of 3-pointers in the second half to force a running clock to move to 2-0 in the tournament, while the Mustangs dropped to 1-1.

“These girls like throw it up there,” Carson said. “Sometimes you’re yelling ‘No!!!’ and it goes in anyway. I trust the girls on the floor to manage when the time is right, and if it isn’t they’ll fix it.

“We spent a lot of time over the summer making sure they took ownership, and it is really starting to show.”

The Toros, who led 35-17 at the half, hit 10 3-pointers in the game and were led by Emma Fishbeck. The senior forward had 17 points including two 3-pointers in the third quarter.

Millie Ahlstrom had 11 points, Shayla Robertson had 10 and Evie Hoover had three 3-pointers for nine points.

The Toros (7-3) aren’t shy from beyond the arc, but can play other styles when required.

“We are short we are a super-fast transition team, moving the ball and getting it up the court fast,” Fishbeck said. “We all push each other and we fighting for a starting spot. We can shoot 3s, but we can score in transition and half court if we need to.”

The Mustangs (4-6) are playing with a young roster for the second year in a row after going 101-35 (.743 winning percentage) from 2019-2020 to 2023-24.

Dobson was led by Zaria Rankin’s 12 points, while Aamani Nolletti and Shaandin Sanchez had six each.

One take away from the lopsided loss was the fact that the effort never waned for Dobson. It’s one of the missions for Aliana Garcia, who is one of three seniors on the team.

“It’s challenging,” said Garcia, who entered the game leading the team in scoring (9.0). “It’s exposing me to what it is going to be like when I am in the real world and have a career and need to be a leader. I am trying to help them understand what it takes to play at a high level. They are the ones who are next.

“We’re not going to back down, and we are going to keep going and going.”

Dobson, which had its first losing season last year since 2018-19, playing a very young roster with hopes of paying dividends the next few years, but the plan took a hit when leading scorer and rebounder Lana Shirley transferred to Sandra Day O’Connor.

“Two years in a row we lost our top kid, or two or three,” Mustangs coach Henry Bribiescas said. “We took a hit on that, but we have other players and we are trying to build from within.

“We are going to keep practicing hard. That’s what I was pleased with (in the loss). They gave effort and played hard. If they can do that while getting better in that aspect then I can live with it.”