Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Giving a lesson

Bitter defeat earlier taught Cheyenne a lesson in managing tight situations late in games, and the Desert Shields became teachers in Monday night's Las Vegas Prep Championship title game.

Part one is trapping pressure defense to force late turnovers. Part two is clutch baskets from your best players down the stretch.

High school algebra should only be as simple as the formula used by Cheyenne to erase a 10-point second half deficit against Green Valley, as the Desert Shields sweated out a 70-66 victory over the Gators to claim the tournament championship.

Just 10 days ago in the Holiday Prep Classic, Cheyenne observed in shock as its eight-point lead and upset bid against Oak Hill Academy (Va.) vanished into the Henderson night in the game's final two minutes. A solid night of work disappeared in a blur of poor play at crunch time, as Oak Hill ratcheted up its defensive pressure to create easy scoring chances.

"The Oak Hill game was kind of like a wake-up call for us," Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson said. "It was all learning, even me as a coach."

With the Gators bidding for their own upset, up 50-40 with 10 minutes to play, Cheyenne switched to a trapping press and Green Valley's ball handlers did not respond well. The Desert Shields first went on an 11-2 run, capped by a long Chris Fuller jumper, over the next four minutes to pull within a point.

"If we were going to get back into the ballgame, we were going to have to get the ball down the floor," Johnson said.

The Gators momentarily regrouped, as backup guard Jordan Ragan canned a 3-pointer from the right corner to extend Green Valley's lead back to 59-53 at the 5:20 mark. Cheyenne then squeezed the vice tighter with a second big four-minute run, this time a 15-4 spurt topped off by a Fuller steal and transition layup to push Cheyenne to a 68-63 edge with a minute to play.

With 31 seconds left, Green Valley got a late 3-pointer from Marquis Pittman to cut the Cheyenne lead down to three, but the Desert Shields' Gregg Barlow came up with a steal on the Gators' final possession to ice the win.

Wade finished with 22 points to lead Cheyenne, and Fuller turned in an impressive effort with 19 points and seven rebounds. Both made the All-Tournament team.

Despite 23 turnovers against Cheyenne, Green Valley coach Jim Allen still walked away very pleased with his team's overall performance in the five-day tournament hosted by Las Vegas High School.

"It was a good tournament for us," Allen said. "Walking in the gym, not many people probably gave us a chance."

Gators center Mitch Platt dominated the interior once again, scoring a game-high 28 points (14-of-21) and grabbing 14 rebounds, including nine on the offensive glass. The Gators did an excellent job of moving the ball around to find entry passes to their 6-foot-10 pivot, who overwhelmed the smaller Cheyenne defense for quick scores as Green Valley built a 35-28 halftime lead and appeared in control early in the second half.

Platt struggled from the foul line, though, going 0-for-5. For Allen, that statistic only marked the beginning of his concerns about free throws. Cheyenne went to the line 32 times, including 26 second-half trips, and the Gators shot just 10 free throws.

"It is impossible to win a ballgame if one team shoots 32 free throws and the other team shoots 10," Allen said.

Pittman also showed very well for Green Valley, finishing with 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. The Gators had a fine offensive night, shooting 56 percent from the field, and going 8-of-14 from the arc.

Both Platt and Gators forward Ron Dunlap were also named to the All-Tournament team.

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