South boys rise again

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Feb. 25, 1999 | 11:08 a.m.

RENO -- Tonight's 4A boys basketball semifinalists won't need scouting reports on one another when they take to the court at the Lawlor Events Center.

The remaining hopefuls for this year's title are already quite familiar with one another, because all four happen to reside in Las Vegas' Sunset Division.

Although it certainly wasn't easy, Cheyenne, Cimarron-Memorial, Clark and Durango all stayed alive with first-round victories Wednesday.

"(The four of us) are starting all over again," Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson said. "It's going to come down to who's playing the best basketball at the right time."

Wednesday's results extended Northern Nevada's futility streak to 25 years without a large-school boys championship, although California school South Tahoe did take home titles in 1987 and '92.

As is often the case, the first round began with high expectations by most northern fans, as several of the matchups seemed to offer the possibility of a southern loss.

But while Reed, Galena and South Tahoe made things interesting, the Las Vegas clubs' superior athleticism and quickness ultimately shined through, setting the stage for another intense round of competition between Southern Nevada rivals.

* DURANGO 77, SPARKS 55: The day's only lopsided boys game saw the Trailblazers roll despite poor shooting by forward Jason Burns and point guard Rudy Charles, normally the team's top two scoring threats.

Playing without starting guard Justin Barkhuff, who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Tuesday's shootaround, Durango (23-10) still managed to rotate 10 players into the game before halftime.

"We were just going to go deep onto the bench to let our guys enjoy the experience of being in the state tournament," coach Al LaRocque said. "We talked about winning this one for Justin in the locker room. His brother, Brandon, played here on our state championship teams, and it was his dream to play here too."

Although Sparks center Randy Messenger (15 points, six rebounds) hurt the Trailblazers early, LaRocque's charges regrouped and blew things wide open in the third quarter, outscoring the Railroaders 22-10.

All five Durango starters reached double figures in points, topped by Martrel Johnson's 17. The freshman center also finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

* CLARK 56, REED 46: As expected, the Raiders' size advantage took its toll on the Chargers, as did a zone defense designed to stop Southern Nevada leading scorer Kevin Gaines.

"I thought they had a real good game plan," Clark coach Brad Query said. "We felt if we could get into an up-tempo game we'd be all right, but we never did."

Nevertheless, poor execution by Reed big men Matt Ochs and Yuri Whyms kept the Raiders from taking a lead. And when Gaines began to find gaps in Reed's defense, the Chargers (22-10) began to breathe a bit easier.

After misfiring on six of eight field goal attempts in the first half, Gaines raised his game to the next level, driving to the hoop fearlessly against the Raiders' twin 6-9 towers. The results were nothing short of perfect, as the 6-4 guard hit 14 straight free throws down the stretch to get Clark into the next round.

"We showed good composure," Query said. "In the first half, we were getting good looks, but Kevin wasn't finishing. In the second half, he got the contact and made his free throws."

Gaines wound up with a first round-best 31 points to go with 12 rebounds, three assists and a pair of blocks. Teammates J.R. Wong and Jaime Manor combined for nine steals to key a strong Clark defensive effort.

* CIMARRON-MEMORIAL 59, GALENA 52: The Spartans withstood a 30-point effort from Grizzlies point guard Lance Buoncristiani to eliminate the north's top seed.

Cimarron (19-12) trailed early in the final quarter before rallying behind nine fourth-quarter points from senior Brian Lang (27 points, 13 rebounds) and a pair of critical late jumpers by reserve froward Kevin Crump.

The highly anticipated scoring battle between Buoncristiani and Cimarron's Marcus Banks never materialized, in large part because Banks expended much of his energy trying to defend the Galena gunner.

And while Buoncristiani did reach the 30-point mark, Banks did his job in large part, holding the Galena senior to dismal 4-of-18 shooting from behind the 3-point arc.

"Marcus had the toughest defensive assignment tonight, and he did a great job" Spartans coach Hank Girardi said. "That's one of the most disciplined, well-coached teams we've played in a while."

* CHEYENNE 63, SOUTH TAHOE 52: The top-seeded Desert Shields completed the Sunset sweep in the day's final boys game, although they had to survive some scary fourth-quarter moments to do so.

Cheyenne seniors Demetrius Hunter, Larry Graves, Eddie Shelby and Jason Johnson all spent most of the second half in serious foul trouble, preventing the Shields (27-5) from utilizing their usual intense full-court pressure and allowing the patient Vikings to make an unexpected final run.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Tahoe's Adam Williams and Norman Cabanero pulled their club within five, 52-47, with four minutes to play. But Hunter and Shelby took matters into their own hands down the stretch, combining for nine of the Shields' final 11 points to ice the win.

"The foul situation kept them in the ballgame," Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson said. "In a game like this, you just take the victory and move on."

Hunter wound up with 20 points to lead all scorers, with Shelby and forward LaDerek Cyrus adding 15 and 12, respectively. Tahoe's Jason Giannoni led his club with 17 points.