Rancho puts away Valley to advance to Sunrise playoffs

Rancho boys basketball coach Ronald Childress wouldn’t take any credit for his team’s 66-59 victory over Valley at Sunrise Mountain High School on Monday night.

He, instead, said the team was victorious because of a special guest who sat on the end of the bench.

Girls basketball coach Ashley Vossen.

The Rams pulled away from the Vikings in the fourth quarter of their play-in game to clinch a berth in the Class 4A Sunrise Region quarterfinals.

They’ll play at Foothill at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

Vossen, who coached the girls team to an 18-10 record this season, has been advising the boys in recent days, and Childress said her tutelage was essential to their success.

“You know how boys are. With men, they’re a little hard-headed,” Childress said. “She came in and laid down the law … We look out for each other. I’ve got to give it to her.”

The Rams (9-19) struggled to play as a unit throughout the regular season, Childress said, but they shared the ball against the Vikings and held a steady lead throughout the game.

Forward Frank DeGourville scored a game-high 23 points for Rancho, and Tejai Washington added 13 points. Oscar Burns and Bryce Jones had 20 points and 18 points, respectively, for the Vikings (6-20), who couldn’t quite overcome an early eight-point deficit.

“(The Rams) played like a team,” Vossen said. “They bought into that concept of being a team, and they knew they needed each other to be successful. I think this was the first time they bought into it all season.”

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.