Western ousted by Cimarron

Spencer Patterson

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2002 | 9:12 a.m.

It's official: there will be no repeat state champion in boys basketball.

Cimarron-Memorial made certain of that on Tuesday, defeating Western 72-66 to knock the defending champs out of this week's 4A Sunset Region Tournament at Palo Verde High School.

Though the Warriors lost all five starters from last season's squad and went 9-14 during the 2001-02 regular season, they needed just two playoff wins to earn a return trip to Reno to defend their trophy.

But Spartans stars Jason Petrimoulx and Robert Young took matters into their own hands, combining to score 47 points as Cimarron (13-11) withstood a furious Western second-half rally.

"It was a tribute to our kids to step up and beat an athletic team like that," Spartans coach Mike Brascia said. "Every year you start out with the goal of playing for a state championship. Now, the dice have to continue to roll our way."

Trailing by as many as 18 points in the second half, Western chipped away behind the stellar play of point guard Roeman Turner. Despite picking up his fourth foul before halftime, Turner scored 15 of his team-high 20 points after the break to get the Warriors back in the game.

Western closed within six points with just under two minutes remaining, but Petrimoulx (29 points, nine rebounds) and Young (18 points, seven rebounds, four steals) each scored a late basket to seal the win.

Up next for the Spartans: a semifinal matchup with No. 3 Bishop Gorman (24-5) on Friday, with the winner advancing to Saturday's Sunset championship and earning an automatic berth in next week's 4A State Tournament.

The Gaels moved on with a 77-64 win over Mojave that was far closer than the final score indicated. Though they fell behind by more than 20 points in the second half, the Rattlers cut the lead to just six points, 70-64, with 40 seconds remaining on a pair of 3-pointers by Mike McWilliams.

Gorman then scored the game's final seven points. C.J. Watson finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and five steals for the Gaels, who also got 20 points from Brandon Knott, including 8-of-8 shooting from the free-throw line. Anthony Egnor had 20 points for Mojave.

In the other half of the Sunset draw, Centennial bounced Clark 64-56 after going on an 18-4 run late in the fourth quarter.

"It was probably a combination of us doing a pretty decent job in our man defense and maybe them having an off night," Centennial coach Greg Bohls said. "We just tried to keep switching people off on (Charger star Mike Philogene) and trying to keep people fresh, because he's one heck of an athlete."

The Bulldogs advance to face No. 4 Cheyenne, which overcame 36 points by Durango's Josh Wood to defeat the Trailblazers 92-64 in Tuesday's final game. Johnny Wheeler scored 22 points to lead the Desert Shields (26-4).

In 4A Sunrise Region action at Valley High School, all four top seeds advanced to Friday's semifinal round. No. 1 Green Valley routed Rancho 53-24, No. 2 Las Vegas blasted Foothill 85-57, No. 5 Desert Pines downed Silverado 79-54 and Basic held off Valley 60-47.

In the Sunrise event, Green Valley outshot Eldorado 4-3 to earn the 1-0 victory, a spot in Saturday's regional final and a berth in next week's 4A State Tournament. The Gators (16-5-1) will face Chaparral (13-4-3), which got four goals from Courtney Sobrero in a 5-1 win over Foothill.

On the Sunset side, Palo Verde pulled off its second upset in as many games, besting Bonanza 3-1 in the shootout for a 2-1 triumph over the Bengals. In Saturday's title game, the Panthers (9-5-5) will match up with Durango (8-4-2), which ousted top seed Centennial 1-0 on Jenna Weimer's goal.