Cheyenne turns up the heat for postseason

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

Cheyenne turned back the clock one year.

Bishop Gorman never turned up at all.

The Desert Shields shook off an inconsistent regular season to give an all-around performance worthy of last season's state championship team.

Fueled by four players scoring in double figures and a controlling defensive effort, Cheyenne routed the Gaels, 69-45, to open the Sunset Region quarterfinals Tuesday night at Gorman.

The Desert Shields (NW-3) advance to face Palo Verde (NW-1) in the Sunset semifinals Friday at Mojave High School. Durango (SW-1) and Bonanza (SW-3) square off in the other semifinal.

In a contest between the past two 4A state champions, Cheyenne (NW-3) raced to a 12-point halftime lead and then used a potent combination of towering inside size and hot outside shooting to bury Gorman (SW-2). Eddie Coulson led all players with 16 points and Jamar Rankin added 14 points for the Desert Shields.

"They beat us in every single aspect of the game," Gorman coach Grant Rice said. "They were more physical than us, extremely physical.

"I don't think we expected that."

Rice also did not expect huge Cheyenne freshman Melvin Oliver, who changed the game just by bringing his 6-foot-8, 260-pound frame up to the varsity. The Gaels collapsed their defense into the paint to account for Oliver, only to have Rankin and Coulson make them pay for the move by combining for five 3-pointers. Oliver added six points and four rebounds.

"We were hoping our size would bother them," Cheyenne coach Larry Johnson said. "My freshman did a pretty good job, pounding the ball down to him."

Oliver also displayed good basketball sense, grabbing a defensive board and firing a court-length pass to Harvey Perry for a layup that gave Cheyenne its first double-digit lead at 27-16 midway through the second quarter. Perry scored 10 points, including just four after halftime, but Johnson could not have been happier with the senior's performance.

That is because Perry also grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots, in addition to carrying most of the ball-handling responsibilities. Perry also locked up Gorman guard Kashif Watson, who scored just nine points under constant pressure.

"Harvey Perry had a tremendous ballgame," Johnson said. "He passed the basketball, played defense, boarded. It's not about how many points he scores. It's about how he makes the players on the floor better. He did that tonight."

"He's our leader. We play off his energy."

Cheyenne's energy surged in the third quarter. The Shields held the Gaels to just eight points and capped the decisive period when Chris Davis weaved uncontested through the entire Gorman defense for a layup to extend the Cheyenne lead to 49-30 after three periods. Davis, who finished with 11 points and nine rebounds, pumped his fist and celebrated as the quarter closed.

"In the second half, I thought we'd get going, get some energy," Rice said. "But we just didn't do it."

The statistics do not jive with that thought, however. The Gaels grabbed 17 offensive rebounds in the game, but still managed just 45 points.

There were other factors: Gorman converted only two 3-pointers against Cheyenne's zone defense, neither of which came from stifled gunner Joey Ballaro. Cheyenne also owned a 44-32 overall rebounding edge.

Cori Anderson led the Gaels with 12 points and eight rebounds and Marcus Lawrence contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

The Panthers broke the game open with a 23-6 third-quarter run. Fariest Brown scored 14 points for Sierra Vista and Jonathan Johnson added nine points.

Bonanza 65, Mojave 54: Bonanza (SW-3) continued its strong season by taking out fellow upstart Mojave (NW-2) in the quarterfinals.

The Bengals now face Durango, and the Blazers won both regular season meetings between the teams.

Sunrise girls' games

Nikita Carroll scored 20 points to lead the Rams, who qualified for the playoffs when Chaparral was disqualified last week for using ineligible players during the regular season. Rancho shot 5-of-18 from the free throw line.