38°F
weather icon Mostly Cloudy

CLASS 3A GIRLS: Morris shatters goal as Bulldog girls cruise past Eagles

Virgin Valley center Rachel Morris set a goal to grab 15 rebounds Saturday.

She topped that in the second half alone.

Morris had 21 points, 23 rebounds, eight blocked shots and four assists to lead the Bulldogs to a 55-42 victory over Boulder City in the championship game of the Class 3A Southern League tournament at Durango.

“My goal before the game was to try and get 15 (rebounds),” said Morris, a 6-foot-3-inch senior. “I don’t know if I accomplished it, but I just go out and do the best that I can.”

Morris did most of her scoring in the first half, when she had 14 points to help Virgin Valley to a 32-20 lead at the break. But her rebounding and defense in the second half helped make sure the lead stood up.

Morris had 17 rebounds and six blocked shots in the second half.

“One of our emphases has been don’t give second shots,” Virgin Valley coach Chimane Creer said. “And we held them to eight offensive rebounds, which was a huge plus for us. In the past, their offensive boards have killed us. We controlled the offensive boards pretty much at both ends, and that was good for us.”

Boulder City had no answer for Morris and 6-1 forward Jenelle Weythman inside.

The duo combined to make 12 of 13 shots in the first half, scoring 26 of Virgin Valley’s 32 first-half points.

Weythman and Morris took all but two of the team’s first-half field goal attempts.

“They’ve fed off each other the whole year, and it’s been really quite nice to have the big kids,” Creer said. “If they double down on one, they look opposite to a teammate.”

The Bulldogs scored most of their points early either by attacking Boulder City’s press or forcing turnovers.

Creer said handling the Boulder City pressure was a key to the outcome.

“It was something we worked on all week, because they put a lot of pressure on us when they played us at home,” Creer said. “We had to make sure we were ready for that.”

Morris helped bail the team out against the press, as she was able to flash to the middle of the court and allow a teammate to throw a high pass that only her lengthy wingspan could reach.

“We’ve just got to keep passing to each other and seeing the open girl,” Morris said of facing pressure. “If we keep doing that instead of dribbling and trying to do it ourselves, we’ll be fine.”

Weythman added 15 points and five rebounds for Virgin Valley, which held a 46-30 advantage on the boards.

Boulder City’s Karlee Koopman led all scorers with 22 points, while also contributing eight rebounds and two steals. The 6-1 Koopman came on in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of her team’s 15 points.

Virgin Valley advances to the state tournament, which begins Friday at the Orleans Arena.

The Bulldogs lost 60-36 to Lowry in the state semifinals lasts season.

“It was a goal that we set at the beginning of the year,” Creer said of returning to state. “Last year when we went, things didn’t really pan out the way we wanted them to. The kids decided we need to get back and make a statement.”

THE LATEST
Wednesday’s high school scores, top performances

Check out the scores and top performances from Wednesday’s high school basketball and flag football action. Plus, a 300 game in boys bowling.