Guards power Mojave girls’ rout of Cheyenne
Clarissa Cannon was one of three Mojave girls basketball players honored by the school in Senior Night festivities before tip-off Thursday. The Rattlers had even more reason to celebrate after the game.
Cannon had 17 points and 15 rebounds to lead Mojave to a 67-47 rout of visiting Cheyenne.
Coupled with Legacy’s loss to Centennial on Thursday, the victory clinched Mojave the Northwest League’s No. 2 seed for the Sunset Region playoffs. The Rattlers will open the postseason at home against either Durango or Bonanza on Tuesday.
“It’s a big deal,” Mojave coach Rochuel Grayson said. “We’ve been talking about this since the beginning of the year.
“It’s been a while since we had a home playoff game. The fans would like to support us here; it would just be good for the girls.”
It will be the Rattlers’ first home playoff game since 2007-08, when Bonanza bounced them in the first round.
“It feels very good to come to this point,” Cannon said. “I’m glad that everybody played their role and everybody got out there and executed.”
Mojave (15-7, 11-5) scored the first 10 points and cruised to a 33-18 halftime lead. The Rattlers led by as many as 25 in the second half.
“It was really big for us because we had momentum the whole game,” Grayson said of the 10-0 start. “My guards got out and did what they had to do.”
One of those guards, junior Jazzmine Robinson, supplied 14 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the Rattlers.
“The combination is great,” Grayson said of Cannon and Robinson. “We’re trying to play them like Steve Nash and Dirk (Nowitzki).
“You’ve got two great athletes who love the game.”
Cheyenne pulled to within 18-17 early in the second quarter, but Mojave responded with a 17-1 run that stretched into the third period.
Tashahni Thomas added 11 points for Mojave, which won for the sixth time in its past seven games.
Shaunice Cameron had 12 points and nine rebounds to lead Cheyenne (12-10, 7-9), which was down to eight active players because of injuries.
Janae Brown contributed nine points and 10 rebounds for the Desert Shields, who lost their fifth straight and ninth in their past 12 games.