Coach-less Clark falls short at end

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 10:04 a.m.

Playing without their head coach, the Clark Chargers came out for Wednesday night's game with visiting Cheyenne like a team on a mission.

With assistant coach Gil Newhouse running the show in place of the suspended Brad Query, the Chargers opened up the first quarter with an impressive 14-4 run behind a pressure defense that forced the Desert Shields into a barrage of early turnovers.

But Cheyenne weathered the storm, pulling even before halftime and dominating the second half to earn a 74-57 win in the teams' final nonconference tuneup.

"We knew Clark was going to pressure us and run on us," said Desert Shields coach Larry Johnson, whose team improved to 7-7. "I was telling our guys, 'Don't panic. Things are going to turn around.' "

The Chargers (6-7) took the court without Query, who was thrown out of his club's final Reebok Holiday Prep Classic contest last month.

Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association rules required the coach to sit out his team's next game, but he coached throughout last week's Las Vegas Prep Tournament. For that violation, his suspension has been extended to two games, meaning he will also miss Clark's league opener at Bonanza on Friday.

"In a lot of situations, kids play differently for a kid than for an assistant," Johnson said. "I don't know if that was the case tonight."

Early on, it certainly didn't look like it. The Chargers played their trademark pressure defense to perfection and that led to easy baskets on the other end. Brian Dragovich did much of the damage for the hosts, tallying all nine of his points in the opening quarter.

The Desert Shields began clawing their way back in the second, ending the half with a 13-6 run to pull within two, 30-28. Willie Hall led the charge, scoring five of his game-high 18 points during that span.

"Hopefully, we can take the momentum into league play," said Johnson, whose club is at home Friday against Cimarron-Memorial.

Two Shields joined Hall with double-figures in scoring: Chris Hall with 14 and Andrae Mitchell with 11. Charles Henderson netted 14 points in the losing cause for Clark.