2A REGIONALS: Gosse, Newman take over as The Meadows boys clinch state berth

The Meadows boys basketball team played two close games against Needles in the regular season
Seniors Garrett Gosse and Max Newman weren’t about to let the third meeting come down to the wire.

Gosse posted 20 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots, and Newman added 18 points, seven assists and four steals to lead The Meadows to a 66-50 win over Needles in a Class 2A Southern League semifinal Friday at Durango.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for ever since I was a freshmen,” Gosse said. “They beat us my freshman year, and they beat us last year in this game. This feels unbelievable.”

The Meadows (21-6) built its lead as high as 21 points after Gosse assisted Matt Biofore on a 3-pointer from the left corner at the third-quarter buzzer. Needles fought back to within 12 points with a 3 by Lewie Larrabee with 45 seconds left to play, but would get no closer.

The Meadows plays Agassi Prep (22-4) in Saturday’s 5 p.m. championship at Durango. Both teams will advance to next week’s state tournament.

“It’s been five years since we’ve been to the state tournament,” The Meadows coach Gary Hannig said. “It feels really good to get back there. I’m just really happy for the kids. Gosse and Newman had great games and we got it done.”

Hannig said the key to beating Needles was playing with high energy on defense.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Hannig said. “We committed to playing defense for four quarters and that helped us get it done.”

Newman hit four 3-pointers, and was constantly pushing the tempo as The Meadows raced ahead.

“The coaches really pressed me to control the game, and not to do too much,” Newman said. “Even though I’m a senior leader, I’m a role player. I know when to push it and I know when to stop, and that’s something that I’ve improved upon over the years that has helped the team.”

Brandon Rufty and Richard Lee each contributed 10 points for The Meadows.

Larrabee finished with 20 points for Needles, which got 14 points from Michael Hills, and eight points from Aaron Burns.

Gosse said holding down Needles’ seniors was the key to the defensive game plan.

“They’re a great team with two great four-year starters in Hills and Burns,” he said. “They killed us and torched us in years past, and we knew that they were the key to their team.”

Agassi Prep 89, Lake Mead 65 — Anson Williams and Kalinn Jackson each scored 22 points to power the Stars to the semifinal victory .

Lake Mead’s Justin Yamzon hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer at the end of the first period Friday to give the Eagles a 21-20 lead. But the Stars exploded on a 21-6 run to take control of the game, sparked by three consecutive 3-pointers by Jackson.

Terrell Kemp added 11 points for Agassi (22-4).

Yamzon finished with 40 points for Lake Mead (12-16).

GIRLS

The typical cliché heard during postseason basketball on almost every level is: “Survive and advance.”

Lincoln County became the epitome of that cliché Friday at Durango.

The top-seeded Lynx blew a double-digit second-half lead to No. 4 seed Calvary Chapel before

Kourtney Gloeckner buried two 3-pointers in the final minute to give the Lynx a 33-32 victory.

Lincoln County (23-4) will play Mountain View (16-11) in the tournament championship game at 3:20 p.m. Saturday at Durango.

With the score knotted up at 27, the Lynx gained possession with just over two minutes remaining, then held the ball for almost a minute before Gloeckner dribbled once right of the key and drained a 3-pointer with 1:05 left to give the Lynx the lead for good.

It was Lincoln County’s first points of the fourth quarter, and broke an eight-minute scoring drought.
Gloeckner, who led the Lynx with 10 points, said she didn’t overthink the moment when she came open with a trip to state on the line.

“I thought of nothing,” Gloeckner said. “I just took the shot.”

Marissa Tiemann scored inside for Calvary (12-14) with 49 seconds left to trim the lead to one, but Gloeckner answered with another 3-pointer for Lincoln with 25 seconds left to bump the lead to 33-29.

“It was no surprise. Kourtney is capable of it,” Lincoln County coach Lori Cheeney said of Gloeckner’s clutch shot. “She just usually doesn’t wait until the fourth quarter to do it. She finally came around to do what she is capable of.”

Jamie Mejia hit a 3-pointer for the Lions at the buzzer for the final margin.

It didn’t appear the Lynx would need Gloeckner’s heroics after they held a 27-19 lead to start the fourth quarter.

But Lincoln County missed its first nine shots and committed five turnovers to start the period. Calvary Chapel then used an 8-0 run behind a pair of baskets in the paint by Deja Harris and a free throw by Jamie Mejia to tie the game at 27 with 2:43 left.

“I was pulling my hair out. I didn’t know what to do,” Cheeney said. “I think our girls came out a little overconfident. We beat (Calvary) fairly easily the last few times, and I think we overlooked them and weren’t ready for such a tough game. We also just haven’t been in many close games this season.”

The Lions had three chances to take the lead in the final three minutes, but a missed shot and two turnovers thwarted their efforts.

Harris finished with 11 points to lead Calvary Chapel, despite being in foul trouble for most of the game and fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Mountain View 38, Needles 30 — senior Briana Marruffo poured in 18 points and eight rebounds, and the Saints overcame an eight-point deficit after three quarters with a 20-4 fourth quarter burst to down the Mustangs.

Mountain View (16-11) lost twice to Needles (19-7) this season, as well as in the semifinal last year.

“They’re always well-prepared and we tried to match that as iron sharpens iron,” Mountain View coach Mike Valenzuela said. “This was the proverbial hump that we haven’t crossed yet — a playoff win. We knew if we gave ourselves the opportunity, anything could happen, and it happened today.”

The Mustangs led by as many as nine points and maintained the lead during much of the second quarter, all of the third and half of the fourth. But the Saints took a 29-27 lead on two free throws by Kiley Murphy with 2:25 left to play.

Freshman Rose Adkins was a major defensive factor for Mountain View, holding Needles guard Abby Chandler to three points, including a jumper with 10 seconds remaining.

“Rose is a terrific on-ball defender who plays with a ton of energy and heart,” Valenzuela said. “We wanted Rose to force (Chandler) out of her comfort zone.”

Marruffo grabbed six of her eight defensive rebounds in the fourth quarter and went coast to coast for layups three times during the spurt.

“My dad’s voice is always in me, 'box out first, push her out’” Marruffo said. “I knew I had to box out and get in front of (Needles post) Holly (Laswell).”

Murphy converted 7-of-8 free throws en route to 11 points and nine rebounds for the Saints.

Laswell paced the Mustangs (19-7) with 11 points.