HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Dexter helps Coronado girls find way against Elko

The Cougars won eight of their first 11 games entering Tuesday’s opening game of the Las Vegas Holiday Classic at Centennial.

But without one of their top players, having already lost a morning game and sputtering on offense in the first quarter of their contest against Elko, the Cougars looked anything but confident.

Enter Sarah Dexter.

The senior guard came off the bench to score 13 points and lead the Cougars to a 43-31 win over Elko.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in her,” Coronado coach Bill Crego said. “She helped us a lot, offensively and defensively.”

Missing starting wing Sofie Cruz due to an ankle injury, the Cougars had trouble on offense, failing to score in the first 4 minutes, 18 seconds of the game until finally splitting a pair of free throws.

Fortunately for the Cougars (9-4), they were down only 4-1.

Dexter tallied seven points in the first half as Coronado erased the early deficit and took a 21-10 halftime lead. Lexi Melone and Nicole Ruffino each added six first-half points for the Cougars.

“We’ve got lots of people who can score, but we didn’t handle their pressure well (early),” Crego said.

Coronado was fantastic on defense, limiting the Indians to just four first-half field goals and giving its offense enough time to get in synch.

“We were struggling in the beginning of the first half, but our defense really came through,” Crego said. “We play pretty good defense most of the time.”

The Indians never seriously threatened in the second half as Coronado upped the margin to 34-17 and cruised to the win.

Coronado had played well in the first half of its morning game against Dobson (Ariz.), but saw a 29-26 halftime lead slip away as Dobson stormed to a 68-52 win.

“I was really disappointed in the way we came out flat in the third quarter,” Crego said. “I don’t think the win (against Elko) was as important as just playing a full game. We moved the ball real well. Mentally, we didn’t make too many mistakes. We were just a lot better.”

Dobson (Ariz.) 68, Coronado 52 — Katherine Hamilton sparked an 18-0 third-quarter run with a pair of three-point plays, and Dobson rallied past the Cougars.

Delia Vasquez scored 22 points, and Hamilton added 20 points for Dobson.

Ruffino paced Coronado with 19 points.

Centennial 62, Dimond (Alaska) 34 — Jada Brown scored 20 of her 21 points in the final three quarters as the Bulldogs rallied from a 10-9 first-quarter deficit to rout Dimond.

Tamera Williams added 15 points for Centennial, which took a 31-19 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half.

Centennial 92, Venice (Calif.) 19 — Williams had 22 points as the Bulldogs whipped Venice.

Brown added 17 points, and Breanna Workman scored 15 for Centennial, which led 51-9 at halftime.

Valley 66, Mojave 55 — Christina Davis poured in 17 points, and the Vikings used a solid finishing stretch to hold off the Rattlers.

Estelle Wilson added 12 points, and Ashley Johnson scored 11 for Valley, which outscored Mojave, 16-9 in the fourth quarter.

Jazzmine Robinson and Jazmin Pedraza each tallied 15 points for the Rattlers.

Valley 45, West Torrance (Calif.) 40 — Davis scored six of her 16 points in the fourth quarter as the Vikings nipped West Torrance.

Shayna Porter added eight points for Valley, which made 8 of 12 free throws in the final quarter to secure the win.

Highland (Ariz.) 81, Mojave 53 — Kaile Magazzeni racked up 22 of her 28 points in the first half and powered the Hawks past the Rattlers.

Highland broke open a close game in the third quarter, using a 22-0 run to open up a 60-37 lead.

Alexandria Thiel led Mojave with 21 points, and teammate Robinson scored 19 points.

Schurr (Calif.) 52, Arbor View 36 — Schurr used a 15-1 run in the final 4:55 of the game to pull away from the Aggies.

Jena Valenzuela led Arbor View with 21 points.

Tiffany Trujillo paced Schurr with 14 points, and teammate Kiana Kayoda added 11 points — all in the second half.

View Park Prep (Calif.) 57, Arbor View 35 — View Park Prep began the game on a 15-0 run, and the Aggies never fully recovered.

Valenzuela poured in 20 points for Arbor View, which crept to within 17-15 before View Park used a 19-4 run to put the game away.