LV girls find way to get past Valley

Adam Candee

Thursday, Jan. 23, 2003 | 9:30 a.m.

Propose the following dire circumstances to Las Vegas coach Bill Giguere and then ask him about his prospects for beating Valley:

So coach, think you have a good chance to beat a team with 14 wins?

"Yeah right," Giguere said.

Yet that is exactly what Las Vegas did Wednesday night, beating Valley, 60-58, in a showdown for early control of the Northeast Division. Giguere can thank his solid backcourt of sophomore Kim Etol and junior Stacey Pena for the victory.

Etol notched a game-high 26 points, including five 3-pointers, and also led the Wildcats (3-0 Northeast, 14-4) with 10 rebounds. She displayed the classic shooter's mentality, breaking herself from an early rut by shooting and shooting some more.

"Kim had a heck of a game," Giguere said. "She is very, very capable of doing that. She's just a scoring machine.

"She knows she has the green light. We want her to put it down."

Pena fought off a tough night at the point to add 17 points for Las Vegas, which led by as many as 13 points in the second half before finally holding off Valley (2-1, 14-7) in the closing minutes.

Valley twice closed within four points late in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings failed to convert field goals and free throws down the stretch. The Vikings got a steal and layup with 9.1 seconds remaining to cut their deficit to 59-55, but an Etol free throw helped make Yolanda Johnson's desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer an afterthought.

"We lost the game on the free-throw line," Valley coach Barney Holmes said of his team that shot a respectable 10-of-17 from the stripe.

The Vikings likely saw things slip away before their mild free-throw troubles began. Valley erased a five-point halftime deficit behind the hot scoring of Gibson, who converted eight straight points to tie the game at 29 in the third quarter. Gibson crashed the offensive glass and hit a pair of 15-foot jumpers for her spurt.

At the same time, Las Vegas struggled to find an offensive rhythm, looking unsure of its set plays. That confusion led to turnovers that helped Valley ease back into the game.

"We didn't execute well," Giguere said. "I was about to go crazy over here."

Etol made her squad's offensive struggles moot by starting to hit shots from all over the court. Over the next eight minutes from that 29-all tie, Las Vegas outscored the Vikings, 21-9, and seized control of the contest by lighting up the nets. At one point, the gutsy Etol strung together four 3-pointers to bury Valley.

As for Cejas, she finished with just two points -- a drop-step post move and layup with 2:33 left to play -- to go with eight rebounds. Gibson definitely got the better of the matchup, a fact that did not greatly surprise Holmes.

"We were more concerned about our guards matching up with their guards," Holmes said.

The Valley backcourt hung in against Las Vegas' agile guards, led by Jenee Webb's 13 points and five rebounds. It looked particularly strong early in the contest, as Valley jumped out to a 16-7 lead after one quarter.

Thanks to some pressure defense and quick turnovers, Las Vegas would storm back in the second quarter, even with Cejas on the bench in foul trouble. A 12-1 run helped the Wildcats to a 26-21 lead at the break.