Gaels stop Centennial juggernaut

Nick Christensen

Monday, Feb. 21, 2005 | 9:05 a.m.

Bishop Gorman vs. Centennial

Postseason Games

2005 Sunset Region Championship

Bishop Gorman 60, Centennial 54

2004 Sunset Region Championship

Centennial 60, Bishop Gorman 56

2003 4A State Championship

Centennial 59, Bishop Gorman 44

2002 Sunset Region Championship

Bishop Gorman 51, Centennial 49

2001 Sunset Region Championship

Centennial 52, Bishop Gorman 44

It wasn't the big one and it wasn't pretty. But that didn't matter at all to the Bishop Gorman girls' basketball team, celebrating on the floor at Mojave High School after defeating defending champion Centennial 60-54 in the Sunset Region final on Friday.

Both teams entered Friday's championship with just one loss on the year, but the Bulldogs were still the clear favorites in a game that's become a near-annual tradition in girls' basketball. Centennial, winner of the past three state titles, was ranked No. 22 in the country by USA Today, outscoring opponents 2,566-1,322 with the one loss -- a four-point defeat to then-No. 10 Lincoln (Dallas).

That didn't matter to the Gaels, whose depth and dominance of the boards were critical in securing Bishop Gorman its second Sunset title in three years.

The Gaels outrebounded Centennial 46-19 in the game, surviving a Bulldog rally at the end of the first half and poor shooting at the end of the second -- Bishop Gorman did not have a field goal in the final 3:01 of Friday's contest -- to earn a berth in Thursday's state semifinals at the Orleans Arena.

"I think we controled the boards and the tempo," Gaels coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. "It's definitely good to have three post players. We stuck to our game plan, played to our level like we've done the last 29 games."

Bishop Gorman's inside trio of Ashley Gayle, Lauren Hoisington and Kaila Mangrum combined for 21 rebounds -- two more than the entire Bulldog lineup -- and 22 points.

Gayle and Mangrum also played most of the fourth quarter with four fouls, forcing the Gaels to change their pace enough to give Centennial a bit of momentum before the Bulldogs were forced to try to foul their way back into the game.

That almost worked, as Gorman shot 4-for-11 from the free-throw line in the final 43.8 seconds of Friday's game.

"We didn't want that to happen," Krmpotich said. "We try to make good decisions, sometimes we didn't. If we had been getting our free throws, it would have been a totally different game."

In fairness to Centennial, it also would have been a totally different game had sophomore guard Italee Lucas not sat the second half with a still-undiagnosed foot injury.

"She said she just pushed off, and kind of had a shot of pain on top of her foot," Centennial coach Karen Weitz said.

Lucas was on hand for the Bulldogs' 104-68 win against Desert Pines in Saturday's state semifinal play-in game, but did not play. Weitz said Lucas is doubtful for this week's state tournament, joining senior forward Whitney Price on the sidelines with injury. Price had knee surgery last week and is also done for the year.

"I guess we'll see what we're truly made of now," said Weitz, who keeps a famously short bench and dressed eight players for Friday's game.

She said that the loss of Lucas, a furious scorer and key part of Centennial's explosive offense, was too much for her team to adjust to in just 16 minutes of gametime.

"I don't know any high school kid that can make that adjustment in 45 minutes to an hour," she said. "I totally have enough confidence in Ashley, Jordyn Bowen, Whitley Cox, even Cici (Sierra Chambers)."

Chambers, who is playing through an ankle sprain, led the Bulldogs with 11 points Friday. Ashley Blake also had 11 for Centennial. Cash Connors led all scorers with 12 points.

The last time that Bishop Gorman beat Centennial in the postseason, in the 2003 Sunset Region final, the Bulldogs came back to win the state championship game by 15 points.

And despite the close margin Friday, Krmpotich said she's not looking to mix things up for next week.

"We'll work on things we need to tune up, and work on things we didn't like today," Krmpotich said. "We don't want to change anything."

Once Around Town

Despite poor shooting from usually dead-on guards Justin Everett and Josh Rivers, the Vikings downed Northeast Division rival Rancho 63-59 to advance to the state semifinals.

"We have relied on our guards," Valley coach Tom Farnsworth said. "They played well for us but they didn't shoot like they're capable of shooting the whole week. We've had solid play from our guys inside, they really came through for us, especially Friday."

The Rams locked down on Rivers and Everett, but Valley had enough post talent to compensate.

"That doesn't stop them (Rivers and Everett) from playing hard and playing well," Farnsworth said. "I think we still got 20 points from Josh and 15 from Justin, they just weren't shooting particularly well. They made some adjustments in their game. Good teams find ways of making adjustments and I think our kids did that."

Valley escaped having to play in Saturday's state play-in game and advanced straight to Thursday's 4:40 p.m. semifinal at the Orleans Arena.

The Jaguars took Coronado to overtime before the Cougars finally pulled out to an 84-78 victory.

"It goes like the saying -- what doesn't kill us makes us stronger," Coronado coach Joe Moyes said. "I've always said these girls have a lot of heart and character. They've never given up and I really thought we would have problems with Desert Pines, because it's just not one of those teams we see a lot of throughout the year."

The win earned Coronado its first berth in the state tournament. They'll play Centennial at 3 p.m. Thursday at the Orleans Arena.

"All that great work and we get to play Centennial," Moyes said, laughing. "We sat them down and said we've got to beat the best to be the best. ... They're all tough teams at this point anyway."

Gaels defenders, particularly guard Greg Williams, were on Stinnett from the tip, jawing at the Palo Verde guard and eventually frustrating the guard into an intentional foul.

Palo Verde coach Paul Aznarez called for officials to clean up the play at the end of the first quarter, imploring to the referees, "We don't play like that! Clean it up!"

Eight minutes later, Stinnett drew his intentional and a technical before going back to the locker room and slamming the door behind him. As the game's lead official was telling both coaches to get their players in line, Stinnett returned to the bench.

Bishop Gorman coach Grant Rice downplayed the incidents.

"We always play physical defense. Good, hard-nosed man-to-man defense," Rice said. "There was no plan, contrary to what (Palo Verde) Coach (Paul) Aznarez thinks, to try and go after P'Allen. We put Greg on him because he's one of our best defenders."

The Gaels held off a Palo Verde comeback attempt, outscoring the Panthers 13-4 in overtime and holding the defending state champions to 1-of-4 shooting in the extra four minutes.

Bishop Gorman will face Northern champion Galena in the 8 p.m. Thursday semifinal at the Orleans Arena.

That was in the middle of a nearly 20-minute field goal drought for Stinnett, one of the city's leading scorers, who finished with 16 points. The Panthers have relied on his scoring of late, with variety being the spice of Palo Verde's recent three-game winning streak.

"He creates a lot of offense," Aznarez said. "He's really unselfish when it comes to sharing the ball. He scores a lot but again, he gets in and penetrates and makes an assist. He does a good job in that aspect."

The Panthers downed Rancho 68-56 to advance to the state semifinals on Saturday. It was Palo Verde's fourth game in five nights, two of those going into overtime. But Aznarez said he's not overly concerned about fatigue in the closing week of a trying season for his team.

"All that's behind us," he said. "Kids, they bounce back real quick. They have a lot of energy. Everybody's 0-and-0 right now. It doesn't matter really, after a few days' practice and the right frame of mind, it's anybody's title to pursue."

Palo Verde begins its quest for a second consecutive state title Thursday afternoon against Valley at the Orleans Arena.

Reno will face Bishop Gorman at 6:20 p.m. Thursday at the Orleans Arena in a state semifinal. Galena plays the Gaels in the 8 p.m. Thursday semifinal.

The Meadows' boys and White Pine's girls won the 2A South titles on Saturday, and Lake Mead Christian Academy and Pahranagat Valley won the 1A South boys and girls titles, respectively.

Dayton won the 3A North boys title, and Spring Creek won the 3A North girls championship. Virginia City and Wells were the boys and girls 1A winners, and Pershing County took both 2A North championships.