Gorman’s losses at tourney don’t look so bad

Nick Christensen

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.

The Bishop Gorman boys' basketball team had mixed news in two games last weekend in Southern California.

They lost both games by a combined eight points, but were playing without guard DeMarco Murray, the Gaels' defensive stalwart who was at a football combine.

It wasn't so bad that Saturday's 72-67 defeat came at the hands of Etiwanda, a school from Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., ranked by USA Today as the 10th-best team in the country.

"We kept it close the whole game," Gorman coach Grant Rice said. "We had a chance, and I thought we could have played a lot better. We missed a lot of shots -- some shots we should have made."

On Monday, Rancho Verde beat Gorman 63-60. The Gaels shot 8-for-17 from the free-throw line.

"We had our chances, but we weren't too disappointed," Rice said. "One positive is we played without our best rebounder and defensive player (Murray)."

With the close losses, the Gaels would like nothing better than to get back on the court for a little redemption. But Clark County district schools are taking semester exams this week, and even though Gorman students took their finals back in December, the Gaels also take the week off.

"We almost wish we played tomorrow," Rice said. "We won't play a better team than (Etiwanda) all year. We should have won our game today."

The Foothill girls' soccer team, for example, is in a four-team chase for the final playoff spot in the Southeast Division. Coach Mark Richards said his team is trying to get some momentum with four games remaining.

"What we're trying to do is make winning a habit," he said. "We've got a couple of big games; we need a couple wins to get that fourth seed in the playoffs."

Durango wrestling coach Mark Azevedo said the focus of his team's practices changes for this week. His young Trailblazers took second last weekend at a tournament in Tonopah.

"I look at this week as slowly building towards the end of the week, with no competition until this weekend," he said. "We're checking that conditioning's where it needs to be. We don't look at technique as specifically, we do more live wrestling and stuff like that."

The Chargers have been playing something seemingly uncommon in this year of 80-point performances by some teams -- defense first.

"I just tell them, if we can't hit any free throws, if our offense isn't on, there's always one thing we can do -- play defense," Clark coach Nick Morrow said. "That's what I stress to them, and they understand that."

Tranfser Tenica Braxton is a big part of Clark's start this year. At 6-foot-1, she's the tallest girl on the team but plays every position.

"She's turned our whole team around," Morrow said. "She's averaging 11 points, 8 rebounds, five assists, three steals ... she's got the responsibility of bringing the ball down the court, rebounding, blocking shots -- I play her everywhere."

Clark is 3-3 in league play this season.

Interestingly enough, a search of the Sun archives uncovered that Vo-Tech lost to Bishop Gorman by a score of 119-22 in 1997. That score was unlisted in the official Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association record book -- and would also be a single-game record that still stands.

"He feels he can have a chance to play early, and also because of academics," Spartans coach Ron Smeltzer said. "He's a national merit scholar, and really, education is extremely important to him."

Hatch was 71-for-137 this year, throwing for 1,556 yards and 19 touchdowns with just five interceptions.