HOLIDAY CLASSIC: O’Bannon, Gorman JV work overtime to down The Meadows for title

Bishop Gorman’s junior varsity team didn’t miss a shot in overtime Saturday to beat The Meadows in the championship game of the Holiday Classic Basketball Tournament at Lake Mead.

It was the second consecutive year the Gaels’ JV team has won the tournament.

After a seesaw game Gorman found its groove and took over in the extra period, in large part because Charles O’Bannon.

O’Bannon, who finished with 20 points, was voted the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after leading the overtime charge with eight points. He was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line, and 2-for-2 from the field.

“I tried to silence the crowd and all the boos,” O’Bannon said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates though. I was in a zone, which made it a lot easier.”

The Gaels outscored the Mustangs 12-2 in overtime.

“We woke up,” Bishop Gorman coach Mike Carter said. “We made it harder on ourselves than we should’ve. We should’ve opened it up a little bit when we got a big lead. Meadows has a good little team. They all battled.

Byron Frohnen had 17 points for Bishop Gorman, which also got 16 from Julian Payton.

Eric Hirsberg led The Meadows with 17 points, but fouled out early in overtime. Matthew Biafore and Branden Rufty scored 13 points apiece for the Mustangs.

The Meadows coach Gary Hannig loved the way his team played in the tournament, and was proud of his Division III squad for competing with one of the best Division I junior varsity teams in the city.

“We came up a bit short,” Hannig said. “I like the fact that we completed really well, but we got to clean a lot of things up. We actually expected to come and win this tournament. That was our expectation, we have five seniors on our team. We have high expectations for this year. We hope to be there at the end. We just need to get better every single week, and if we do, I think we’ll be there at the end of the year.”

The Meadows’ Hirsberg and Biafore, and Gorman’s O’Bannon and Frohnen were named to the all-tournament team. Among those joining them were: Boulder City’s Tyler Newby and Xavier Steel, Lake Mead’s Dylan Graham, Laughlin’s Quinton Love, Calvary Chapel’s Matthew Harney, and Pahranagat Valley’s Jake Carter.

Australia (#2) 57, Beatty 44 — At Lake Mead, Jai Thomas led all scorers with 20 points, and Tokateu Lolotonga scored 16 to lift Australia over the Hornets.

Australia led 30-24 at halftime, and pulled away after a strong third quarter (16-8).

Nikolas Zamora notched 14 points for Beatty.

The Meadows 54, Boulder City 51 — At Lake Mead, Hirsberg scored 16 points, and the Mustangs overcame a 22-17 halftime deficit to down the Eagles.

Rufty 11 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter for The Meadows.

Marcus Walker had 15 points for the Eagles, who got 14 points from Newby.

Word of Life 58, Beatty 51 —At Lake Mead, Elijah Hoye poured in 28 points as the Eagles downed the Hornets.

Isaiah Manabat added 13 points for Word of Life, which used a 17-9 third quarter to break open the game.

Jacob Zamora led Beatty with 17 points.

Australia (#1) 53, Lake Mead 45 —At Lake Mead, Bailey Van Hout had 17 points to help Australia get by the Eagles.

Keenan Gorski had 10 points for Australia, which had only a one-point lead after three quarters.

Graham led Lake Mead with 15 points. Brendan LeBaron added 12 points, and Drew Ramos scored 11 for the Eagles.

Calvary Chapel 48, Laughlin 39 —At Lake Mead, Harney’s 14 points helped the Lions earn a victory over the Cougars.

Riley Clark added 12 points for Calvary Chapel, which bounced back from a 7-2 first-quarter deficit.

Corey Anderson had 12 points, and Love scored 10 for Laughlin.

Boulder City 60, West Wendover 55 — At Lake Mead, Newby had 10 of his 17 points in the second half as the Eagles rallied from a 29-25 halftime deficit to beat the Wolverines for third place.

Walker chipped in 10 points for the Eagles, who outscored the Wolverines 20-13 in the third quarter.

Kaydn Sharp had 19 points, and Kylar Sharp added 14 points for West Wendover.

GIRLS

Alyssa Ybarra and Megan Morton each scored 13 points to lead Boulder City to a 63-21 win over Calvary Christian (Calif.) in the girls championship game at Calvary Chapel.

Whitney Barlow added 12 points for the Eagles, who led 20-10 after one quarter and used a 25-7 second-quarter run to build a 45-17 halftime lead.

Nicole Handloser led Calvary Christian with 17 points.

Calvary Chapel 56, Beatty 20 — At Calvary Chapel, Phallen Nelson scored 21 points, and the Lions raced to a 25-7 first-quarter lead en route to a win over the Hornets in the third-place game.

Marissa Tiemann added 13 points for Calvary Chapel, which extended its lead to 41-9 at the half.

Denise Gonzalez led Beatty with 13 points.

Pahrump Valley 27, Bishop Gorman JV 22 — At Calvary Chapel, Shayla Dance scored 11 points, and the Trojans grabbed an 18-9 halftime lead on their way to a win over the Gaels’ junior varsity in the fifth-place game.

Indian Springs 35, Lake Mead 24 — At Calvary Chapel, Caroline Stark had 11 points, and the Thunderbirds used an 8-1 second-quarter run to down the Eagles in the seventh-place game.

Cheyanne Noyes and Hannah Thormahlen each added 10 points for Indian Springs.

Shannon Regan led Lake Mead with 13 points.