LV PREP: Rams get tourney win, but coach not pleased

Rancho coach Ron Childress didn’t look like a man whose team had just won a tournament game.

Despite his team’s 63-57 win over Cypress (California) in the Las Vegas Prep Championship on Monday at Las Vegas High, Childress was less than pleased.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “A lot of work to do.”

The Rams played well for stretches on Monday, but struggled to put the Centurions away.

“That’s what we always do, then we go into the one-on-one stuff,” Childress said. “It wasn’t a good game.”

Justin Holiday was dominant for most of the game, finishing with 30 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots to lead the Rams. But even he struggled down the stretch, missing three free throws, including the front end of two one-and-one opportunities to help Cypress get back in the game.

Rancho led 59-48 with 1:44 to play, but missed the front end of three one-and-one chances, and went 4-for-9 from the free-throw line in the final 1:15.

Holiday and point guard Chrys Jackson combined for 17 fourth-quarter points, and Jackson’s drive pushed the lead to 11 with 1:44 left.

But the missed free throws and lack of defensive focus allowed the Centurions back into the game. They got as close as 59-57 on Erik Papke’s bucket with 23 seconds to go.

“Their focus is always on offense,” Childress said of his squad. “And you win and lose games on defense. They just don’t get it. They want to win games offensively, and we don’t have enough firepower to win the game offensively.

“Defense is the key to any team at any level, any sport. Water polo, it don’t matter. You’ve got to play defense. And that’s why that team stayed in there so long with us, because we didn’t play defense. They’re going to understand me one of these days.”

Jackson had 14 points and six assists, and Trayvon Cotton-Taylor had 12 points and seven rebounds for Rancho.

Papke led Cypress with 15 points and nine rebounds. Myles Jones added 12 points and nine rebounds for the Centurions.

Chaparral 68, Innovations International 45 — Samuel Porras had 20 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Cowboys rolled past the Ambassadors.

Porras was 4-for-7 on 3-pointers for Chaparral, which was 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) from 3-point range. His 3-pointer started a 17-1 run in the first half that gave the Cowboys control.

John Brooks was 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and added 15 points and four rebounds for the Cowboys, who got eight rebounds from Marcus Hilliard.

Derec Anderson had 18 points to lead Innovations. Jordan Allison added 13 points, and Justin Evans had 12 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots for the Ambassadors.