DIVISION I-A BOYS: Cheyenne boys forfeit out of tournament, Boulder City back in

Desert Pines fans already had started filing into Sunrise Mountain’s gymnasium Thursday when they were told they wouldn’t get to watch their boys basketball team play.

The Jaguars, who were scheduled to play Cheyenne in a Division I-A Southern Region semifinal, instead will meet Boulder City at 6 p.m. today at Del Sol after Cheyenne forfeited its final three games of the season and was pulled out of the tournament late Thursday afternoon.

The Desert Shields self-reported to the Clark County School District that they had used two players who were academically ineligible in regular-season victories over Western and Mojave along with Tuesday’s region quarterfinal win over Boulder City.

Instead of playing Desert Pines for the right to meet Clark in the region final, Cheyenne’s season suddenly ended.

“The most logical solution was just to remove Cheyenne from the bracket and let Boulder City advance,” said Donnie Nelson, assistant director of the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association.

“We didn’t want to harm the integrity of the bracket by going back and replaying it. We didn’t want to take anything away from Clark, which has advanced properly through the bracket.”

As a result, Boulder City is back in the tournament, a day after collecting uniforms.

“My principal approached me tonight and asked if we could be ready to play in a game (Friday). I thought he was joking,” Boulder City coach John Balistere said as he was preparing to meet with his team and redistribute uniforms. “We had collected all of the gear, but we get another shot, so we’re thankful.

“We’ll be a little short-handed, but we only have to be better than them on one night.”

The Jaguars hadn’t made it to the gym Thursday when they were told their tournament was on hold.

“They stopped us before we could get off the bus,” Desert Pines coach Mike Uzan said. “All this is new to me. They didn’t even tell us who we were playing. It kind of sucks because we were ready to play Cheyenne, but our kids will be ready to play anyone.”

Clark 56, Chaparral 35 – Clark coach Chad Beeten hoped a zone defense would stop Chaparral’s quick-strike offense.

His strategy paid off.

The third-ranked Chargers (28-1) rolled past Chaparral and into the championship game, scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Saturday at Sunrise Mountain.

“We’ve been a really good defensive team all year and that’s been our staple,” Beeten said. “Tonight it was a zone because I thought our size, being long and big, would work versus their short, quick guys.”

Clark’s size advantage, with 6-foot-8-inch senior center Malcolm Davis, 6-6 junior forward Diontae Jones and 6-6 junior forward Jordan Turner packed underneath the basket in the 2-3 zone, stymied Chaparral.

The Cowboys (16-9) weren’t able to operate inside the paint and instead settled for long jumpers that often went begging.

The Chargers trailed 9-5 midway through the first quarter, before going on a 22-11 run to take a 27-20 lead at halftime.

Davis, who returned from a recent team-imposed three-game suspension, came off the bench to anchor the middle of the zone and pulled down six first-half rebounds.

“It was a minor incident that we suspended him for, and he’s been an absolute animal in practice,” Beeten said. “I just told him today and yesterday in practice, 'You come out with that effort and we’re going to be really tough to deal with.’ And he did.”

Sir Washington was 11-for-11 from the free-throw line and led Clark with 19 points.

“Sir’s game has evolved with his overall maturity,” Beeten said. “We did a few little corrections with his free-throw shooting, and he’s really been focusing on them.”

Davis collected 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Jones grabbed 11 boards for the Chargers.

Patrick Savoy paced Chaparral with 17 points.