Robotham helps Gaels roll into Sunset semifinals

Czar Robotham felt if he could knock down some perimeter shots Tuesday night, it would open up Bishop Gorman’s inside game.

That it did, but the senior guard also stole the show in the process.

Robotham hit five 3-pointers on his way to 19 points, leading the Gaels to a 74-56 home win over Centennial in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A Sunset Region tournament.

“Czar has absolutely been a warrior for us all year,” Gorman coach Grant Rice said. “He’s been battling knee injuries since Christmas. Most people don’t know that. He’s just been stepping it up and giving it his all.”

All five of Robotham’s 3-pointers came before the fourth quarter.

“I knew if I hit my shots, they would run out at me and that would open things up for the inside,” he said.

Southwest League champion Gorman (24-5, 15-1) advanced to face Cheyenne, an 84-79 winner over Sierra Vista, in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Thursday at Palo Verde.

Kylel Coleman scored 15 points for Gorman, which also got double-figure scoring from Johnathan Loyd (11) and Anson Winder (10).

The Gaels led only 21-19 after a first quarter featuring four lead changes, but they outscored the Bulldogs 36-19 in the middle quarters.

Robotham said “the intensity and ball pressure” made the difference.

Rice agreed.

“We had some letdowns to start the game,” Rice said. “They hit probably four or five wide-open jump shots in that first quarter. We called a timeout early and talked about defensively stepping it up.”

Gorman shot 23-for-28 from the free-throw line.

Matt Holley paced Northwest No. 4 seed Centennial (16-14, 7-7) with 16 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Ben Vozzola added 15 points and Anil Kundanani 10.

“We wanted to come in and set the tempo of this game,” Bulldogs coach Greg Bohls said. “We started having a little success. We were hitting some shots.

“I don’t know if that was good because we got into an up-and-down game with them, and that’s their style of ball.”

Gorman’s up-and-down game was in full effect early, with Coleman throwing down an alley-oop from Robotham and Shabazz Muhammad scoring on a breakaway dunk in the first half.

A free throw by Vozzola cut the Gaels’ lead to 30-26, but Gorman responded with a 9-0 run and was never threatened afterward.

“A few daggers in us right there,” Bohls said of Robotham’s 3-pointers. “They’re all great athletes, but (Robotham) is a playmaker. He really had a great game. He knocked down some 3s and got them going.”

Coleman scored 11 points in the first half, and Robotham had 10.

“It’s pretty dangerous,” Robotham said of Gorman’s guard play. “Going against those guys in practice is tough. We try to make each other better.”

The Gaels led by as many as 21 in the second half.

If Gorman is to make a second consecutive run to the Sunset title game, it will have to get past a Cheyenne team led by Kansas signee Elijah Johnson and that tied for the Northwest regular-season title.

Rice said it will be key if the Gaels can keep their energy up.

“We’re playing nine guys right now, and we’re getting nine guys a lot of minutes,” he said. “So I think it’s if we can maintain that energy throughout the 32 minutes.”