Girls: Sundevils proving less can be more

James Yodice

Wednesday, Jan. 22, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

Probably, you won't find the words "bench" and "strength" used often in the same sentence in reference to Eldorado High School's girls basketball team. Relatively speaking, the Eldorado bench is about as thin as a piece of paper.

Still, the Sundevils, all seven of them, find that less sometimes can be better.

"We're trying to turn this around and make it a positive," says Eldorado coach Bill Love. "These seven kids will go out and deal with anybody. Also, I don't want to put 10 or 12 players (on the bench) if I'm only going to play seven."

So far, there's not much arguing the strategic value to Love's thinking, since the Sundevils find themselves 4-1 in the Sunrise Division, one-half game behind 5-0 Basic. On Tuesday night, Eldorado collected an important division win, going to Las Vegas High and beating the Wildcats 59-52.

The Sundevils (11-6 overall) blew a 22-9 first-half lead, but scored 13 of the game's final 16 points.

"You don't see anyone outrunning us, do you?" Love asked. "There is just no quit in these kids. And there's no difference in my mind between a team which has 10 kids and plays seven and a team that just plays seven."

Four of Eldorado's seven reached double figures, led by Lakisha Holmes' 16 points. Holmes took a hard shot to the ribs late in the second quarter and missed the first half of the third period while she caught her breath. The rib injury winded her.

In the interim, her teammates picked up the slack. Post Kristi Shaw and point guard Camina Stevenson each contributed 13 points, and forward Erica Yazzie added 10 points.

"At the beginning of the season," says Shaw, "people were coming in and out, but now there are seven of us and there's nothing we can do about the numbers. We're just facing it.

"We're a really close team, on and off the court, and that's what makes a good team. You are tired (with no bench to give a breather), but you just say 'No, I'm hanging in here and I'm playing my heart out.'"

The victory was Eldorado's first at Las Vegas High.

"This is a really big one for us," says Shaw. "A real confidence booster."

"Just because we're small," added Holmes, "doesn't mean we can't do anything."

* SILVERADO 67, BISHOP GOR MAN 60, OT: The Skyhawks (11-7, 3-2) upset the visiting Gaels (14-6, 4-1) in a Sunset Division game, dropping Gorman into a tie for first place in the league with Clark.

* CLARK 71, WESTERN 59: Six-foot junior Danielle Pope led a balanced scoring attack with 18 points, pacing the Chargers (7-6, 4-1) over the visiting Warriors (7-7, 3-2). Celeste Grover added 13 points for Clark and freshman Raquel Scott 13. Shannon Christian of Western led all scorers with 26 points.

* ELSEWHERE: Yolanda Banks and Roshaunda Hall combined for 51 points to lead Cheyenne to a 63-44 win over Bonanza. ... Green Valley had an early double-digit lead and coasted to a 68-23 victory over Valley. ... Rancho won its second game of the season, downing winless Vo-Tech 43-23. ... Durango pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 56-43 triumph over Cimarron-Memorial. ... A huge third quarter propelled Basic, the Sunrise Division leader at 5-0, to a 59-33 win over Chaparral.