Chaparral girls cruise

Spencer Patterson

Thursday, Feb. 14, 2002 | 11:23 a.m.

One more win, and Southern Nevada's last large-school girls basketball champions can book a return trip to state.

Chaparral, which captured the 1980 state title before Northern Nevada began its current string of 21 straight trophies, advanced to the 4A Sunrise Region semifinals with an easy 54-30 victory over Coronado Wednesday at Valley High School.

The Cowboys will face Las Vegas High Friday at 6:30 p.m., with the winner earning a spot in the regional final and an automatic berth in next week's 4A State Tournament in Reno.

"These kids know the tradition of those old Chaparral teams, and they know we've been a doormat these last few years," Cowboys coach Jerry Swanson said. "That bus trip to Reno has been their goal for a while."

Despite playing without senior starter Kiki Atkins, who was forced to sit out after being ejected from her team's last game, Chaparral (19-11) had no trouble with the first-year Cougars (20-11) in round one.

Swanson's squad went up 12-2 after one quarter and stretched the lead from there, even going up by 30 points late in the fourth quarter.

"That was a game that if you didn't win, you get a couple of weeks off and you start preparing for next year," Swanson said. "This was a critical game for us, and we put in a lot of time preparing for it."

Junior forward Kim Fox pulled down 16 rebounds to help the Cowboys to a whopping 46-22 advantage on the glass. Coronado also turned the ball over 24 times, with Chaparral's Oshaylee Thomas and Jasmine Fonseca coming up with four steals apiece.

"We didn't think we would come out and beat them by 20, but our teamwork showed on the court," Fox said. "If we could go to state, it would be tremendous for our program. Chaparral's girls program doesn't get any respect, so we're trying to prove ourselves."

Center Brandi Moore scored 14 points to lead a balanced Cowboys' scoring attack, with Fox, Thomas and Brigit DeClerq each scoring nine points. Moore also had six rebounds and three blocks as Chaparral dominated the paint.

Erica Santigate led all scorers with 22 points for Coronado, which played without injured starter Tiara Bowman.

In other first round action, Las Vegas (13-11) got 17 points apiece from Melissa Cejas and Jamilia McNeil in a 43-33 win over Basic.

On the other side of the Sunrise bracket, Green Valley (24-6) rallied from a surprising two-point halftime deficit to defeat Desert Pines 68-56. Jabrenta Hubbard led the Gators with 23 points, with Jenn Todd adding 20 points and seven rebounds.

The ninth-ranked Gators will next face Valley (18-12), a 61-51 winner over Silverado on Wednesday. Four Vikings scored in double figures -- Felicia Bell (18), Yolanda Johnson (14), Janee Webb (13) and Jennifer Garrett (11) -- while the Skyhawks' Brittney Turner led all scorers with 22.