ROUNDUP: Lake Mead boys bounce back with win over Saints

Lincoln County’s boys basketball team was dominant inside on Saturday in handing Lake Mead its first Division III Southern League loss.

The Eagles made sure that didn’t happen on Wednesday.

Lake Mead’s inside duo of Wesley Brule and Caleb Pitman offered a perfect complement to star guard Justin Yamzon as the Eagles earned a 58-44 road win over Mountain View.

“Lincoln beat us physically and mentally,” Lake Mead coach Jeff Newton said. “So what I think we really did tonight to bounce back is we matched their physicality. And I’ll go a little further. I think we surpassed their physicality.”

In a key stretch midway through the fourth quarter, Pitman and Brule each had a stick-back, and Pitman added a steal and another bucket to push the lead to 55-38.

Brule, a 6-foot-6-inch senior finished with 12 points to help take some pressure off the high-scoring Yamzon, who had 34 points.

“Everybody knows Justin can put the ball in the hole,” Newton said. “He’s one of the best guards in the state, and that’s why he’s going to play at the next level. But when we get that from the kids, and those easy baskets, those high-percentage baskets, we’re hard to beat, we really are. Because I think Justin’s going to get us 30 every night.”

The 6-5 Pitman didn’t have as much success putting the ball in the basket, finishing with just six points. But he was dominant on the glass, pulling down 21 rebounds to help the Eagles (15-3, 5-1) to a 42-33 rebounding advantage.

“I really challenged him,” Newton said. “He’s capable of that every night. And unfortunately, he doesn’t give it to us every night. If he would, we’d be remarkable. Twenty-one rebounds is huge. That’s a great feat for him. That’s an amazing night.”

Yamzon had 12 points in the third quarter to help the Eagles extend their 27-25 halftime lead to 43-36.

And a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter put the game away.

Nick Jenkins had nine points to pace the Saints (9-9, 3-3).

GIRLS

Mountain View 45, Lake Mead 40 — At Mountain View, Elle Germany’s basket with 1:28 to play broke a 39-39 tie and helped the Saints top the Eagles.

Germany had 12 points to lead Mountain View, which outscored Lake Mead 19-5 in the fourth quarter. Kiley Murphy added 11 points, and Rose Adkings scored 10 for the Saints.

Taylor Badua-Kona led Lake Mead with 19 points, and was 9-for-10 from the free-throw line. Shannon Regan added 13 points for the Eagles, who outscored Mountain View 13-1 in the third quarter.