With eye on standings, Cowboys focus on foe

Chaparral boys basketball coach Steven Bentz did the math and knew exactly what was at stake Thursday.

“It would have been tough for us to finish second if we would have dropped this one,” Bentz concluded.

Marc Silas scored 29 points, and the host Cowboys upended Del Sol 70-65 to move into a tie with the Dragons for second place in the Division I-A Sunrise League.

Samuel Porras added 12 points for Chaparral (12-9, 7-2 Sunrise League), which is 2½ games behind league leader Desert Pines. Del Sol (16-5, 7-2) hosts Chaparral on Feb. 6.

“We approached it as this is a big game that’s going to determine where we’re seeded at, so it’s a good game to get, especially when we’re at our place,” Bentz said. “Second and third (place) is a big difference. It’s a home game, but we’ll be fighting again with them next Friday. This is just the start.”

Silas continually hurt Del Sol with dribble penetration and put a halt to both runs the Dragons made in the second half. Del Sol used a 10-2 spurt in the fourth quarter to close to within 64-56, but Silas hit a baseline floater over Brian Greer that put the Cowboys up by 10 points with 2:30 remaining.

“He’s been real consistent being a scoring point guard for us and breaking pressure,” Bentz said. “He handled it well tonight, getting key baskets when they looked like they were going to get back in it.”

Silas had eight points during a 15-0 run to open the second quarter as Chaparral took a 27-16 lead. Chaparral then scored the final 10 points of the half, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Ben Kirschbaum, to go up 41-25 at halftime.

Kirschbaum had nine points off the bench for the Cowboys, and teammate Richard Nelson chipped in with eight points and 11 rebounds.

“I think defensively, switching the zone and cutting off penetration gave us a big boost and kind of changed up the momentum of the game early,” Bentz said.

Greer had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Del Sol, which shot 2-for-16 from the 3-point arc and had its five-game winning streak snapped. Noah Spearman totaled 15 points, 15 rebounds and four steals, and Rashaun Lawson scored 12.

Greer scored 16 points in the second half, and Del Sol got as close as 44-38 midway through the third quarter. But Silas answered with a layup on the Cowboys’ next possession, and Chaparral entered the fourth with a 12-point advantage.

Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidSchoenLVRJ.