DIVISION I-A BOYS: Desert Shields work from start to finish, hold off Boulder City

Cheyenne boys basketball coach Teral Fair stresses the importance of playing hard all game long to his players.

The Desert Shields did just that Wednesday.

The Desert Shields pulled away late in the fourth quarter to down visiting Boulder City, 70-60 in a Division I-A Southern Region quarterfinal. Cheyenne (10-12) will play Desert Pines (22-4) at 4:40 p.m. Thursday at Sunrise Mountain. The Jaguars won the earlier meeting, 52-49, at Cheyenne on Dec. 3.

“We’ve been working on that all season,” Fair said. “It’s all about the process. We’ve been coaching them all season to just keep playing, keep doing the things we ask them to do, but most importanly, keep playing hard. Don’t play the scoreboard.”

Despite the lead staying in single digits until the last minute, Cheyenne never trailed. The Desert Shields took a 31-25 lead into halftime.

Senior Javon Peterson led the way with 25 points, including an 8-for-8 effort from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter to ice the game. The rest of the team shot just 8 of 18 from the free-throw line (44 percent) in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve talked all season about making winning plays during winning times,” Fair said. “Making free throws in clutch situations is making winning plays. He’s done that for us all year. Exactly what I expected from him.”

Boulder City tied the game twice in the second half. The Eagles came within 64-60 with 36 seconds left, but missed shots resulted in a 6-0 Cheyenne run to end the game.

Jarrell Bell had 17 points, eight assists and six steals for Cheyenne.

With Bell demanding the attention, big men Dominic Jackson-Anasson and Joseph Rose benefited in the post.

Jackson-Anasson finished with nine points and nine rebounds, and Rose scored seven and had 10 rebounds.

“Their size caused some problems for us inside, and we knew that was our Achilles’ heel all year,” Boulder City coach John Balistere said. “We haven’t given up 70 (points) in many games this year. I know we were fouling at the end, but I thought they hurt us on the glass a little bit. Too many second-chance points.”

Marcus Walker scored 12 of his 17 points in the second half to lead Boulder City (10-14), and twin brother Nicholas Walker added 10 points and six rebounds.

Tyler Newby finished with 14 points for the Eagles, who will lose eight seniors to graduation.

“I told my seniors how much I appreciated what they’ve done the last three years since I’ve been the coach here,” Balistere said. “We won 46 games. It’s the most wins we’ve had in a three-year stretch in about 18 years, so they did a great job of helping bring our program back to respectability.”

Desert Pines 69, Faith Lutheran 53 — At Desert Pines, Coby Myles scored 22 points, and Re’Meake Keith added 12 points and eight rebounds as the Jaguars downed the Crusaders.

Nate Grimes had nine points, and Trevon Abdullah added eight points and eight rebounds for Desert Pines.

Clayton Holthaus led Faith Lutheran (13-15) with 15 points, and teammate Mitch Fulfer scored 12.

Mojave 58, Virgin Valley 53 — At Mesquite, Darryl Adams made 6 of 8 free throws in overtime and finished with 20 points as the Rattlers outlasted the Bulldogs.

Mojave (15-13) led 45-41 before Virgin Valley’s Garrett Leavitt hit a 3-pointer while being fouled with two seconds left. After Mojave called a timeout, Leavitt hit the free throw to force overtime.

Malik Abbott added 13 points for the Rattlers, who will face Clark (21-5) in a region semifinal at 8 p.m. Thursday at Sunrise Mountain.

Leavitt had 21 points, and Dee Bowler scored 20 for Virgin Valley (15-11). DeVonte Milligan added 14 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Clark 72, Chaparral 37 — At Clark, Diontae Jones and Jordan Turner each scored 13 points as the Chargers ran away from the Cowboys.

Carter Olsen added 11 points for Clark, which outscored Chaparral 41-19 in the second half.

Tyree McNeal led Chaparral (9-19) with 22 points.