Chase Jeter pours in a career-high for Bishop Gorman in Sunset championship

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 | 10:45 p.m.

Chase Jeter began icing his knees the moment he checked out of Friday night’s game against Palo Verde, which made perfect sense.

Treatment was a necessity after the Bishop Gorman senior carried his team to a seventh consecutive Sunset regional championship. For the third time in three playoff games over the last four days, Jeter shouldered the scoring load in a Bishop Gorman obliteration.

Jeter wound up with a career-high 35 points and 15 rebounds in the Gaels’ 82-46 victory over the Panthers.

“It just happens in the flow of the game,” Jeter said. “These last couple of nights, it’s just how it happened to be.”

Gorman is traditionally more balanced on offense. Coach Grant Rice says it’s no surprise if Jeter, fellow senior five-star center Stephen Zimmerman, senior wing Nick Blair or junior big man Zach Collins scores the most points on any given night.

But everyone other than the Duke-bound Jeter has played the role of glorified passer so far in the playoffs. Gorman has relied on its high-low offense with Jeter stationed below the basket and the other big man at the top of the paint during its campaign to win a fourth straight state championship.

“Jeter has really been clogging the inside and finishing at the rim,” Rice said. “It’s almost the perfect combination when you can get the ball to someone like Zimm or Zach Collins in the high post who can pass or shoot.”

Zimmerman particularly showed off his passing skills against Palo Verde. The 7-footer had six assists, second-most on the team behind senior point guard Richie Thornton with eight, in a game where he tied Noah Robotham as the winningest Gael of all-time with 112 wins.

Zimmerman — who also had six points, eight rebounds and three blocks — fed Jeter early to get his teammate on track. Jeter scored 17 points in the first quarter as Gorman surged ahead 25-12.

“We stressed that we wanted to work inside-out,” Rice said. “We changed it up, found a few different ways to get the ball to the short corner and high post.”

The Panthers trimmed the deficit to as low as eight points while winning the second quarter. Senior Grant Dressler — 17 points and five rebounds — and junior Ja Morgan — 11 points, eight rebounds and five assists — found soft spots in the Gorman defense to keep Palo Verde alive.

“I respect those guys so much,” Rice said. “Palo Verde when they got hot, even tonight in the first half, they hit some huge shots with 6-foot-11, 7-foot guys in their face and hands up.”

The size disadvantage caught up with the Panthers in the third quarter. After hanging in at a 45-34 deficit midway through the period, the Gaels reeled off a 17-0 run.

In addition to six points from Jeter, junior guard Julian Payton drained two three-pointers during the run. Blair was also a key cog, adding to his 14-point, six-rebound night.

“My teammates took care of me and I took care of them today,” Jeter said. “It was just good chemistry all around and we need to take this into next week with the same mentality and goal.”

Gorman will play next in the state semifinals at 8 p.m. next Thursday at the Orleans Arena. The opponent is to be determined, as it will meet either the winner of the Northern region championship between Galena and Carson or Valley High if they defeat Palo Verde in a play-in game Monday night.

The Gaels will likely play through Jeter regardless of the opponent. It’s worked thus far.

“Chase, in the last year and a half, two years, has just grown up so much,” Rice said. “He’s still young. He’s 17 years old, won’t turn 18 until September next year, so he’ll be at Duke as a 17-year-old so sky is the limit.”

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