Palo Verde girls upend Western

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2001 | 11:44 a.m.

Thrilling as her team's 43-41 win over Western may have been Tuesday night, Palo Verde coach Gina Piccolo won't have long to savor it.

That's because along with the victory, Piccolo's Panthers earned a matchup with Bishop Gorman -- a squad that has yet to lose to a Nevada opponent -- in the semifinals of the 4A Sunset Region Girls Basketball Tournament Friday.

The winner of that game advances to Saturday's Sunset championship and, more importantly, gets an automatic berth in next week's 4A State Tournament in Reno.

"The bottom line is Gorman is a well-rounded, good basketball team and they're well-coached," Piccolo said. "We're going to have to come out and play with a tremendous amount of heart and all our pistons need to be firing."

Playing in their home gym -- the site of all contests in this week's Sunset Regional -- the Panthers (20-8) led for most of Tuesday's game against the Warriors (11-9). Midway through the third quarter, Palo Verde took a 28-20 lead and appeared to be pulling away.

But with Panthers point guard Don-netta Coleman on the bench with four fouls, Western turned up its defense to get right back into the game. The Warriors forced a succession of turnovers and converted them into 10 straight points -- six by Kirah White -- to take their first lead since the game's opening moments.

Then it was Palo Verde's turn to rally. Down 41-40 with just over a minute to play, the Panthers worked the ball to Vovian Ewalefo, who was fouled away from the basket. She converted both ends of the 1-and-1 and, after a potential game-winning shot by Western's Aster Parker missed the mark, the hosts dribbled out nearly all of the final 40 seconds to win the game.

Lacrea Bucknell finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers, with Ewalefo adding 13 points. White led all scorers with 19 points.

Bishop Gorman (24-2) advanced with an easy 83-52 win over Mojave, with Liz Cansdale (30 points), Jen Kline (28) and Breona Gray (18) scoring all but seven of the Gaels' points.

On the other side of the Sunset bracket, Bonanza (25-3) breezed past Cimarron-Memorial 81-56, earning a matchup with Centennial (26-3) in Friday's semifinal round. The Bulldogs earned their spot in the final four with a 65-35 win over Durango behind 22 points from Darci Sandoval.

In the Sunrise Region Tournament at Valley, Jayme Connors and Nikki Hitchens scored 15 points apiece to lead Silverado (23-5) past Rancho. The Skyhawks will face Las Vegas (17-6) -- a 45-37 winner over Chaparral -- in Friday's semis.

Green Valley (15-10) posted a 59-41 victory over Desert Pines, with Taylor Cohen and Erika Twesme scoring 15 and 14 points, respectively. Up next for the Gators: Eldorado (14-6), which knocked off Basic 46-37 behind 17 points from Markee Daniel.