Desert Region: Spring Valley pounds Coronado in Desert Region opener

Spring Valley girls basketball coach Billy Hemberger said the Grizzlies have struggled offensively at times this season.

There were no such issues Tuesday night.

Spring Valley opened a 21-6 lead over Coronado in the second round of the Desert Region tournament and coasted to an 82-55 home win. The 82 points are a season high for the Grizzlies, who led by as many as 30 points in the second half.

They will meet Green Valley (12-13) in quarterfinal play Thursday.

“We’re still putting things together,” Hemberger said. “But we scored the basketball tonight. That’s been a struggle of ours, and I was very happy with that. We’ve got to get better defensively, though.”

Spring Valley (20-6) improved throughout the season and concluded it by winning 16 of 17 games. But two Southwest League losses early in the season and a third league loss in January relegated the Grizzlies to a No. 3 seed in the Desert Region tournament.

It was tough to tell, though, against Coronado (14-11).

The Grizzlies blitzed the Cougars with their full-court zone press to secure an early lead and relied on a hasty pace to build on it. Rory Carter had 14 of her game-high 18 points in the first half, and Chelsea Camara scored 13 of her 15 then.

Center Alexus Quaadman policed the paint on both ends of the floor and finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds for Spring Valley, which played without injured freshman standout Aaliyah Gayles.

Gabbie Etopio led Coronado with 17 points.

“I feel like the team has gotten better offensively just by knowing what we want out of each other,” Carter said. “Defensively, we still have some things to work on, but I feel like just being us, as a team, coming together and knowing its playoff, I think we’ve (got it).”

Foothill 75, Clark 48 — At Foothill, the Falcons made 12 of 18 free throws in the win over the Chargers.

Ryan Jenkins of Foothill led all scorers with 17 points, seven assists and six steals.

Aqui Williams added 13 points, Taylor Bair scored 12 points and had nine rebounds, and Laurel Rockwood finished with 11 points for Foothill (14-15), which will visit Bishop Gorman (18-7) in a quarterfinal at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Marieka Dent scored 12 points for Clark.

Silverado 37, Basic 34 — At Basic, Yasmine Noor had 10 points and the Skyhawks held off the Wolves.

Kimberlyn Tanner added eight points for Silverado, which led 30-16 at one point in the third quarter before Basic rallied to tie the game.

The Skyhawks (8-16) play at Liberty (19-5) in a quarterfinal at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Kailey Taylor had 11 points for the Wolves, who cut the lead to 30-26 at the end of the third quarter.

Lauren Powell added 10 points for Basic (9-18).

Sierra Vista 50, Tech 42 — At Sierra Vista, Ashley Hansen scored 12 points to lead the Mountain Lions over the Roadrunners.

Shailay Pearson added 11 points for Sierra Vista (13-12), which will travel to Desert Oasis (18-4) for a quarterfinal game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.

Tayler Muwwakkil led all scorers with 23 points for Tech (10-18).