Gaines’ 30 scorches Rancho

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1999 | 10:49 a.m.

Nevada's top boys basketball player will finally get his chance to play on the state's biggest stage.

On a night when all four Sunset Division clubs downed their Sunrise opponents, senior Kevin Gaines scored 20 second-half points Wednesday to lift No. 3 Clark over host Rancho 70-65 and into next week's 4A state tournament.

"It feels good," said Gaines, who finished his first-ever Southern Zone playoff game with 30 points and 16 rebounds. "This is (the seniors') last year. We're just trying to go out with a bang."

The Chargers (20-9) will face No. 2 Durango (21-9) Friday night at 9 p.m. at Valley High School in one zone semifinal. Top-ranked Cheyenne (24-5) will take on No. 5 Cimarron-Memorial (18-10) in the other at 5 p.m.

"I'm just so happy for the kids," Clark coach Brad Query said. "They deserve all the credit."

To the delight of the near-capacity crowd, Rancho and Clark battled to a virtual draw for most of the evening, with neither club taking a lead larger than eight points after the first quarter.

The teams were tied at 32 at halftime, and the Chargers were ahead by just three points, 53-50, heading into the final quarter.

But after seeing the Rams (20-8) whittle his squad's lead down to one, 63-62, with 1:45 to play, Gaines took over. After missing a tough shot in the lane, the 6-4 guard rebounded his own miss, put it back in and drew a foul.

The ensuing free throw gave Clark a four-point edge, but the hosts were far from done. After Gaines missed the second of two foul shots, Rancho's DeShawn Campbell made two free throws to make the score 67-65.

Once again, though, Gaines had an answer, finding Jaime Manor (17 points) underneath the hoop for an easy layup to seal the win.

"It was a heavyweight battle. I knew it would be," Query said. "These kids are all warriors."

The game also showcased a battle of two of Southern Nevada's top seniors, as Gaines spent most of the night matched up against Kevin Crockrom.

Although Gaines wound up outscoring his counterpart, 30-23, Crockrom had his way on the offensive end for the first half, netting 14 points to lead all scorers.

Gaines rose to the challenge down the stretch, however, limiting Crockrom to three field goals in the decisive fourth quarter.

"Every game, I match up against the other team's best player," Gaines said. "I wasn't comfortable in the first quarter, but I think I did a good job on him in the second half."

* CIMARRON-MEMORIAL 65, CHAPARRAL 55: Marcus Banks scored 28 of his 31 points in the second half -- 18 in the final quarter, as the visiting Spartans rallied from a seven point deficit with five minutes to play. Banks keyed the rally on the defensive end, where he came up with eight second-half steals.

* DURANGO 63, LAS VEGAS 55: Jason Burns scored 21 points and Jamaal Brimmer added 17 as the Trailblazers returned to the state tournament after a one-year absence and ousted last year's zone champions. Durango took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the visiting Wildcats (16-14) 20-10 to take a 16-point lead.