GATOR CLASSIC: Coronado’s girls keep piling on tourney wins

The Coronado girls basketball team played an extra game during the Gator Winter Classic, meaning Tuesday’s Gold Bracket quarterfinal at Green Valley was its fifth game in four days.

Thanks to a fast start, the Cougars still should be fresh for Wednesday morning’s semifinal.

Coronado opened the game on a 27-2 run and was able to give quality minutes to all 10 players in a 54-12 victory over Spanish Springs.

Anastaysa Youmans finished with a team-high nine points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals for Coronado, which will take a seven-game winning streak into an 11:40 a.m. game against Santa Fe Christian (Calif.).

Coronado is the lone area team remaining in the Gold Bracket.

”This definitely helps with the energy,” first-year Coronado coach Rich Santigate said. “We get a chance to work on stuff we haven’t worked on in a while.”

Coronado went unbeaten in the tournament’s toughest pool and also played Shadow Ridge on Saturday when Mainland (New Zealand) was delayed getting to Las Vegas.

Coronado held Spanish Springs to 20.8 percent from the field (5-for-24) and forced 31 turnovers.

“We’re working on our foot work,” Santigate said. “They’re learning to play defense with their feet and not their hands.”

Liberty Pfeffer had six points and 10 rebounds, and Samantha Green added six points, seven boards and three blocked shots for Coronado.

Coronado’s Cali Thompson, Karlie Thorn and Katie Thorn and Kayla Watterson also finished with six points.

“We rely on team basketball,” Santigate said. “We don’t have one dominant player. If we play within our system, we usually have some success.”

Coronado scored the final 14 points of the first quarter and the first nine points of the second. Katie Thorn had a steal and layup followed by consecutive 16-foot jumpers to cap the 23-0 spurt.

Pfeffer scored inside on a nice up-and-under move to give Coronado a 40-8 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter, and Coronado finished the game on an 8-0 run.

“We’re doing pretty well,” Santigate said. “It’s a new system, a new coach, but the girls are adapting well. We played a strong nonconference schedule. … We’re just trying to get better and get ready for conference.”

Buena (Calif.) 59, Silverado 44 — Monet Salazar had 12 points for the Skyhawks in their quarterfinal loss to the Bulldogs.

Jessica Chamberlain added nine points, all in the second half, for Silverado, which trailed 24-8 after the first quarter and never recovered.

Amy Jameson led Buena with 14 points. Maniya Parker had all 13 of her points in the first quarter, and Leah Kopp supplied 11 points for the Bulldogs.

Mainland (New Zealand) 36, Rancho 20 — LaKissa Martin finished with 15 points, but the Rams’ offense went cold in a quarterfinal loss to the Eagles.

Martin made a 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter to cut Mainland’s lead to 22-15. The Rams couldn’t get any closer, though, as Nicole Ruske made a 3-pointer with five minutes left in the fourth to put Mainland on top 30-17.

Tessa Stewart-Morrison led the Eagles with 10 points.

Santa Fe Christian (Calif.) 55, Green Valley 32 — Gwen Garcia scored seven points, but the Gators’ offense stalled during the second half in a quarterfinal loss to the Eagles.

Brooke Haney and Yamilei Rodriguez finished with six points apiece for Green Valley. The Gators trailed 26-25 at halftime and took a one-point lead early in the third quarter before Santa Fe Christian outscored Green Valley 29-5 the rest of the way.

Megan Franke and Erin Moody each had 18 points to lead the Eagles.

Buena (Calif.) 50, Spring Valley 46 — Kayla Harris scored 16 points, but the Bulldogs handed the Grizzlies their first loss of the season.

Spring Valley led by five points at halftime and was up 31-30 at the end of the third quarter before Buena opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 spurt. The Grizzlies cut the deficit to 48-46 on a 3-pointer by Bria Hardin-Davidson with one minute remaining, but Spring Valley committed two turnovers in the final 30 seconds to thwart its comeback attempt.

Grizzlies standout freshman Essence Booker was limited to only two points by Buena.

Parker had 12 of her 15 points in the fourth quarter for Buena. Parker’s baseline jumper with 3:40 left in the fourth quarter put the Bulldogs on top 43-38, and her layup 20 seconds later gave Buena its biggest lead at 45-38.

Jameson added 11 points for the Bulldogs.

Rancho 46, Westchester (Calif.) 34 — Jada Wilson had 18 points, and the Rams used a strong start to upend the Comets.

Martin added 12 points for Rancho, which used an 11-3 first-quarter run en route to a 27-15 halftime lead.

Rancho held Ijeoma Anugwom to 16 points. Anugwom averaged 27 points in Westchester’s three pool games.

Spanish Springs 28, Las Vegas 27 — Adrina Collins had 10 points, but the Wildcats couldn’t dig out of an early hole and lost to the Cougars.

Teconna Dyer was limited to six points for Las Vegas, which trailed 16-8 at halftime.

Katrina Prendergast and Emely Whittaker had six points apiece to lead Spanish Springs.

Green Valley 58, Durango 37 — Ellee Barton finished with 16 points, and the host Gators rolled to a win over the Trailblazers.

Barton had nine points in the first half as the Gators used an 18-6 second-quarter run to lead 30-13 at halftime.

Gracelle Garcia and Haney each made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points. Green Valley made seven 3-pointers overall.

Brittany Romo led Durango with 11 points, and teammate Aylin Ponce added nine points.

SILVER BRACKET

Needles 65, Bonanza 54 — Brenna Chavez dropped in 26 points, and Jane Antone added 21 points as the Mustangs beat the Bengals in the quarterfinals.

Chavez had 19 points in the second half for Needles, which pulled away after leading 44-41 at the end of the third quarter.

Alyssa Powers had a game-high 28 points to lead Bonanza. Alexis Harris had 15 points, including two free throws with 50 seconds remaining to pull the Bengals within 61-54, but that was as close as they got.

Brooklyn Savage made three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points for Bonanza.

Chaparral 50, Cimarron-Memorial 42 — Taij Criss-Felton had 18 points, and the Cowboys overcame a slow start to defeat the Spartans in the quarterfinals.

Alexis Vanstory finished with 15 points, and Marcia Hawkins added 14 points for Chaparral. After trailing 9-1 at the end of the first quarter, the Cowboys fought back to trail by one point at halftime. Chaparral then used a 14-4 third-quarter run to go ahead 33-24 heading into the fourth quarter.

Ashli Tyus led Cimarron with 21 points, and teammate Shauntel Efferson scored 10.

Chugiak (Alaska) 56, Del Sol 28 — Astrid Rodriguez had 12 points, but the Dragons were doubled up by the Mustangs in the quarterfinals.

Azhwalaee Oliver added nine points for Del Sol, which trailed 35-17 at halftime.

Carley Stone led Chugiak with 12 points, and teamamte Anna Ingraham scored 11.

Dimond (Alaska) 54, Western 42 — Destiny Gonzalez had a game-high 21 points, but the Warriors lost to the Lynx in the quarterfinals.

Capricia Pierce added 16 points for Western, which trailed 24-23 at halftime before Dimond went on a 15-6 run in the third quarter.

Dejha Canty led the Lynx with 19 points. Nikki Forrey had 11 points, and Justine Anderson scored 10 for Dimond.

Needles 45, Sunrise Mountain 40 — Chavez scored 13 of her 16 points in the second half, and the Mustangs rallied to beat the Miners.

Antone had 12 points, and Preslee Murch scored 10 for Needles, which used a 17-8 run in the fourth quarter to erase a 32-28 Sunrise Mountain lead.

Nina Carpenter led the Miners with 11 points.

Chaparral 64, Cheyenne 58 — Criss-Felton poured in 27 points, and the Cowboys held off the Desert Shields.

Criss-Felton scored 17 points and went 9-for-10 from the free-throw line in the second half. She finished 13-for-16 overall from foul line.

Abigail Delgado had 13 points, and Hawkins added 10 points for Chaparral.

Alexcia Weatherly led Cheyenne with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Bria Buchanan had 14 points, and teammate Faith Fetapai scored 12 for the Desert Shields.

Del Sol 62, Coral Academy 10 — Samantha Rego led four double-figure scorers with 12 points, and the Dragons overwhelmed the Falcons.

Jazland Campbell finished with 11 points, and Mira Hernandez and Azhwalaee Oliver each scored 10 for Del Sol.

Taylor Austin and Alessandra Ponce had four points apiece for Coral Academy, which was held scoreless in the second half.

Dimond (Alaska) 67, Shadow Ridge 39 — Tamara Gisendaner and Amira King each finished with eight points in the Mustangs’ loss to the Lynx.

Canty poured in a game-high 25 points for Dimond, which led 20-9 after the first quarter.

POOL PLAY

Santa Fe Christian (Calif.) 61, Silverado 34 — Deja Siaki had 13 of her 15 points in the first half, but the Skyhawks lost to the Eagles in Pool A.

Lyric Knight added seven points for Silverado, which trailed 43-21 at halftime.

Franke led Santa Fe Christian with 19 points, and teammate Lindsey Almquist finished with 10 points.

Western 61, Bonanza 50 — Gonzalez finished with 20 points, and the Warriors overcame a big game from Powers to beat the Bengals in Pool A.

Powers poured in a game-high 31 points for Bonanza.

Topaz Beard had 18 points, and Pierce notched 11 points for Western, which outscored the Bengals 20-12 in the third quarter to take a 47-32 advantage.