Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Sierra Vista plays lockdown defense to get past Cimarron-Memorial

The Sunset quarterfinal win was the first playoff victory in Sierra Vista school history

Maiscei Grier

Christopher DeVargas

Maiscei Grier, a Sierra Vista High senior, poses in the locker room before practice on Jan. 25, 2011.

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Sierra Vista’s defense came out strong from the beginning in Tuesday’s Sunset quarterfinal playoff game against Cimarron-Memorial. It took the offense a while to follow.

After leading 19-15 at halftime, the Mountain Lions pulled away for a resounding 62-39 win against the Spartans.

“I think it was one of the best defensive performances we’ve had,” Sierra Vista coach Kent Johnson said.

Johnson challenged junior forward Dallin Molina and a host of other Sierra Vista players to play tough defense on Cimarron junior center Erik Brewer.

The Mountain Lions rose to the occasion and held Brewer to 11 points, the fewest he’s had in 12 games.

“We weren’t going to let him kill us,” Johnson said. “We weren’t going to let him touch it and when he did touch it, we wanted to make sure he was outside the lane.”

Molina finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Senior guard Viko Noma’aea was close to securing one of his own with 12 points and eight assists.

But it was Maiscei Grier who really changed the Mountain Lions' offensive effort in the second half. Grier had a game-high 17 points.

“He had no points in the first half,” Johnson said. “Usually, he shoots the ball well the whole time. But when he gets hot, he gets really hot. That’s what happened tonight. The first half was the coldest I have ever seen him.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.

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