Basic wins wild semifinal over Henderson International

Nick Sangchaloay has played in his share of wild games, but the Basic junior forward had to laugh and shake his head when asked about Friday night.

Basic and Henderson International went back and forth in a heated Lake Mead Holiday Classic semifinal featuring two technical fouls, two intentional fouls, two crucial call reversals and even a delay to amend a scorekeeping error.

But through all that, Sangchaloay scored 18 points to lead the Wolves to a 58-56 win and into the title game of the ninth annual tournament against Boulder City at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

“It’s insane,” Sangchaloay said of the game. “It was a crazy game. Our starters were mentally strong and played together.”

James Holmes added 12 points for Basic (4-1), which went ahead 53-49 in the final minute on Tyler Dobbins’ layup and three-point play.

As the lone Class 4A school in the 12-team tournament, Basic won 70-66 in overtime over Virgin Valley earlier Friday to reach the semifinal.

“Being a bigger school, this is expected,” Wolves coach Steven Bentz said of reaching the title game. “I’m a little disappointed that the two games (Friday) were a little tougher than they could have been.”

Sangchaloay agreed, citing defense as a major area Basic must improve.

“Really, I’m not satisfied with the basketball that we played,” he said. “We should be at a lot higher level. We need to get into the backcourt and stop the ball up the court.”

Josh Young led Henderson International (3-3) with 21 points. The 6-foot-6-inch senior forward hit six 3-pointers, four in the first half.

Henderson International coach Greg Stephens said the wild circumstances surrounding the finish had less to do with the outcome than his team missing shots.

“We missed a lot of easy shots,” said Stephens, whose team was whistled for two technicals. “We missed some free throws. We can’t blame anybody but ourselves.”

All six of the Wolverines’ opponents so far are above their 1A level, but they’ve managed to claw to a .500 start.

“I just want us to improve, and I’ve seen a lot of that this week,” Stephens said.

Coming off a 6-20 season, Basic is 4-1 and one win away from winning the tournament.

But Sangchaloay said the Wolves likely are to face a tougher challenge Saturday.

“We had a couple good plays (Friday),” he said. “Good offensive boards, good boxing out. But in general, as a team, I don’t think we did enough.”

In other gold bracket games:

Basic 70, Virgin Valley 66 (OT) — Mike Feher went 5-for-5 at the free-throw line in overtime to propel the Wolves to the win.
Holmes and Dobbins scored 16 points apiece for Basic, which got 13 from Sangchaloay.

Jonathan Gleave scored 11 points to lead Virgin Valley, which plays in the consolation title game against The Meadows at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

Virgin Valley junior guard Jason Wittwer had 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Henderson International 80, Lincoln County 61 — The Wolverines rallied from an 18-11 hole entering the second quarter by sinking 14 3-pointers in the game.

Young scored 13 of his 21 points in the second quarter for Henderson International, which outscored Lincoln County 27-11 in the period.

Clay Tormey had 21 points and Danny Moerman added 18 for the Wolverines, who play Lake Mead at 3 p.m. Saturday in the third-place game.

Eric Rippetoe scored 28 points and Dantley Walker 18 for the defending Class 2A state champion Lynx, who play Spring Mountain in the seventh-place game at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Lake Mead 70, Spring Mountain 37 — Lake Mead surged to a 41-12 halftime lead on its way to the easy win.

De’Quan Thompson scored a game-high 19 points for Lake Mead, including a tomahawk dunk and three-point play that gave his team a 28-5 lead in the final six minutes of the first half.

Cameron Cornish scored 17 points and Jeremy Francisco 10 for the Eagles.

Rodney Harvey scored nine points to lead Spring Mountain, which had eight players score.

Boulder City 67, The Meadows 51 — Jeremy Smith scored 16 points to lift the Eagles to the win.

Alex Dillon and Joey Western added 15 points each for Boulder City, which held The Meadows to 12 points in each of three quarters.

Austin Brown paced the Mustangs with 13 points.

Virgin Valley 68, Lincoln County 60 — The Bulldogs rallied by outscoring the Lynx 28-17 in the fourth quarter.

Austin Cloes scored 17 points, Terran Leavitt 15 and Zach Horlacher 11 for Virgin Valley.

Walker scored a tournament-high 35 points for Lincoln County.

The Meadows 62, Spring Mountain 31 — The Mustangs outscored the Eagles 20-4 in the first quarter on their way to the rout.

Brown scored 20 points and Mike Wallace 11 for The Meadows.

Davorite Sandifer scored 13 points for Spring Mountain.

Boulder City 51, Lake Mead 38 — Jake Phillips and Western scored 13 points each to lead Boulder City into the title game.

Thompson scored 18 points and Jeffrey Newton 11 for Lake Mead, which trailed 17-9 entering the second quarter and will be unable to repeat as tourney champion.

In the navy bracket at Calvary Chapel:

Calvary Chapel 78, Indian Springs 31 — Brandon Corbitt poured in 24 points for the Lions, who bolted to a 48-15 halftime lead.

Juliene Mejia added 14 points for Calvary Chapel.

Patrick McClain scored eight points to lead Indian Springs, which plays Calvary Chapel (Calif.) in the last-place game at 9 a.m. Saturday.

Trinity 64, Calvary Chapel (Calif.) 23 — Budweiser Hawkins scored 22 points as the Thunder routed the Knights to reach the navy bracket title game, where it will face Calvary Chapel at noon Saturday.

Avery Harden scored 16 points for Trinity, which got 10 points each from Gage Neuwohner and Nate Klegseth.