VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Bengals bust out defense, take home championship
George Tarkanian brought a heightened focus on defense when he was hired to coach Bonanza’s boys basketball team in September.
The new philosophy is already paying dividends.
Bonanza held Santana (Calif.) without a field goal for more than 10 minutes in the second half Wednesday en route to a 60-46 win in the title game of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View.
“That’s all coach talks about, is defense, defense, defense,” Bonanza junior guard Dasean Martin said. “Defense comes first.”
Playing mostly man-to-man defense, Bonanza (7-4) held Santana scoreless for the first five minutes of the third quarter and won the period, 11-3.
“It’s a stunner for me because I thought our defense was really good, but we took it up another notch,” Tarkanian said. “I thought (Santana) was a darn good team, so I don’t think we did this to a weak team. I’m really impressed; we dug deep.”
Martin scored 11 of his game-high 17 points in the second quarter and was named tournament MVP.
Tarkanian was impressed with Martin, who also contributed five rebounds and three steals.
“Our position man-to-man was awfully good,” Tarkanian said. “Dasean is as good as anyone I’ve coached defensively.”
Tommy Gentile added 15 points for the Bengals, while Connor Shea had nine and Julian Romero tallied eight.
Bonanza knows a tougher schedule awaits, highlighted by Southwest League games against defending Class 4A state champion Bishop Gorman.
But the Bengals feel the tournament title will give them a boost of momentum.
“(Santana) is a team that is comparable to the better teams in our league,” Tarkanian said. “This is the best team we’ve faced so far, and to win this and get our rhythm is very big.”
Agassi Prep’s Quincy Brown and The Meadows’ Garrett Gosse were among the players named to the all-tournament team.
Agassi Prep 67, Mountain View 64 — Brown had 29 points and 13 rebounds to power the Stars past the Saints in the consolation bracket championship game.
Brown netted 3-for-4 from the free-throw line in the final 20 seconds to lift Agassi Prep to the win.
Decari Lide’s 3-pointer in the final minute broke a 61-61 tie and gave the Stars the lead for good.
Dimitri Amos had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists for Agassi Prep, and Anson Williams scored 16 points.
“I think it’s motivational for the kids because they’re still accepting my philosophy,” Stars coach William Hopkins said of closing the tourney with a win. “Even though we have some issues on our guard play, we know we have the inside.”
Justyn Anderson had 24 points, eight assists and five steals for Mountain View. Cortland LeBoeuf hit seven 3-pointers on his way to 22 points, and Trevor Van Kempen added 14.
Kingsburg (Calif.) 64, The Meadows 51 — The Vikings used a 19-4 second-half run to pull away from the Mustangs in the third-place game.
Gosse poured in 23 points for The Meadows, which took a brief 36-35 lead on an 8-0 run to begin the third quarter. Max Newman added 16 points.
Tech 58, Pahranagat Valley 49 — The Roadrunners sprinted to a 16-3 lead and held on to beat the Panthers.
Ben Leavitt led Tech with 10 points and 15 rebounds, and Michael Johnson supplied 13 points and nine rebounds.
Mikey Maglich, Josh Sarabia and Burnard Faulafo added 10 points each for the Roadrunners.
Cody Hosier scored 12 points for Pahranagat Valley.
Sage Hill (Calif.) 68, Pahrump Valley 57 — The Trojans fell despite 13 points from Alex Anderson.
Desert Christian (Calif.) 65, Spring Mountain 60 — A 9-2 fourth-quarter run lifted the Knights over the Eagles.
Leon Saunders paced Spring Mountain with 22 points, and De’Andre Hampton chipped in 16.
Mountain View 62, Pahranagat Valley 52 — Anderson had 19 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals to lift the Saints past the Panthers.
LeBoeuf and Van Kempen added 13 points each, and Karl Benjamin contributed 10 points and nine rebounds.
Hosier scored 17 points and Tommy Williams 14 for Pahranagat Valley.
Sage Hill (Calif.) 81, Tech 65 — The Roadrunners were outscored 22-6 in the second quarter of a loss to the Lightning.
Sarabia had 16 points and four steals for Tech. Johnson scored 16 points and Ben Seibert added 10.
