Roundup: Clark makes statement in win over Coronado
Clark boys basketball coach Chad Beeten sensed some complacency from his team in the days before its loss to Bishop Gorman on Monday.
There was no such complacency against Coronado on Saturday.
The No. 2 Chargers overpowered the No. 3 Cougars at South Point Arena en route to a 79-40 victory. Oklahoma recruit Jalen Hill scored 22 points for the Chargers.
Frankie Collins had 20 points, and Antwon Jackson scored 16.
“This is definitely a statement,” Collins said. “We’re bouncing back off the loss. We got a statement win. We’re still here.”
Hill set the tone in the first half with 16 points and intrusive man-to-man defense against Coronado star sophomore guard Jaden Hardy, who finished with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting. The rest of the Chargers followed suit for a 45-22 halftime lead.
They coasted in the second half and disrupted the Cougars’ isolation-heavy offense with aggression in their team defensive schemes.
“We just guarded,” Beeten said. “That’s what we’ve been doing. I think we got away from that a little bit after Christmas break, and maybe we got a little mentally lax because we were beating teams so handily. We just had to dig in and do what we needed to do.”
Liberty 79, Durango 62 — At South Point Arena, Julian Strawther scored 41 points to propel the Patriots past the Trailblazers.
Strawther made five 3-pointers and converted 13 of 19 free-throw attempts.
Anthony Hunter led Durango with 15 points.
Democracy Prep 86, Desert Oasis 60 — At South Point Arena, Najeeb Muhammad scored 27 points to help the Blue Knights dismantle the Diamondbacks.
Chancellor Johnson added 20 points for Democracy Prep, which made six 3-pointers in the first quarter.
Dominique Ford led Desert Oasis with 23 points.
Moapa Valley 70, Lincoln County 62 — At Overton, Derek Reese and Cameron Reese each scored 16 points to lead the Pirates by the Lynx.
Jessup Lake added 14 points for Moapa Valley.
Cody Zile paced Lincoln County with 24 points, and teammate Alex Vincent scored 18 points.
The Meadows 48, Needles 40 — At The Meadows, Obinna Ezeanolue had 20 points and 20 rebounds to lead The Meadows by Needles.
Allen Fridman added 15 points and six rebounds for The Meadows.
Dawsen Yeager had 11 points, and Doogie Harvey scored 10 for Needles.