VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Undefeated Chaparral girls rout Agassi Prep

Tichina Savoy’s high school basketball career hasn’t been filled with wins.

The Chaparral senior, in her fourth year on varsity, has watched her team take more than its share of lumps.

This year, Savoy and the Cowboys are fighting back in a big way.

Chaparral added to its best start in recent memory Wednesday, moving to 7-0 with a 56-17 dismantling of Agassi Prep in the opening round of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View.

“We don’t want to go back to what it was last year,” Savoy said. “We want to do better than last year. We want to better ourselves.”

Ten seasons removed from their last playoff appearance, the Cowboys were 18-51 in the past three seasons and 27-82 in the past five.

Chaparral hasn’t had more than seven wins in a season during that time.

They’ve already matched that total this year.

“We expect them to be successful. Why wouldn’t we?” said assistant coach Evan Nunez, who filled in Wednesday for first-year head coach Chris Williams.

“They work hard,” Nunez added. “They should be able to reap what they sow, and they’re sowing some very, very good seeds right now.”

They’re doing it with a more aggressive defense — one that held the Stars to 1-for-20 shooting with 18 turnovers in the middle two quarters. It allowed Chaparral to expand a 14-8 lead to 52-11 after three quarters.

“We’re aggressive with our pressure,” Nunez said. “We really want to capitalize on turnovers. We stay together, and they don’t get down on each other.”

The Cowboys tallied six transition baskets in a three-minute stretch of the second quarter, with five players getting at least one basket.

“We work together,” Savoy said. “We’re all very positive with each other. We’re in shape. We’re running, and we’re working hard in practice.”

Unique Wilson led Chaparral with 15 points, all in the first three quarters, and six rebounds. Savoy added seven points as the Cowboys were 26 of 50 from the field.

Azaria Conway led Agassi Prep (2-3) with four points.

Pahranagat Valley 51, Rock Academy (Calif.) 50 — Bailee Hosier made two free throws with two seconds left to lift the Panthers over the Warriors.

Hosier finished with 20 points, and Traci Strong added 11 points for Pahranagat.

Sydney Daniel led Rock Academy with 25 points.

Bonanza 65, Indian Springs 35 — Trane’e Jenkins scored 27 points, and the Bengals raced to a 32-11 halftime lead on their way to a win over the Thunderbirds.

Alyssa Powers added 19 points for Bonanza.

Victoria Carpenter paced Indian Springs with 10 points.

Layton Christian (Utah) 63, Pahrump Valley 34 — Teneshia Davison tallied 18 of her 28 points in the second half as the Eagles pulled away from the Trojans.

Shayla Simpson and Alissa Atisme each added 15 points for Layton Christian.

Britney Noel had 12 points, and Shayla Dance scored 10 for Pahrump.

Rialto (Calif.) 87, Adelson School 6 — Brittany Neely poured in 32 points and hit four 3-pointers to power the Knights past the Lions.

Miya Arrington had 19 points, and Kenyetta Fugate scored 16 for Rialto.

Ale Gibson led Adelson School with four points.

Castlemont (Calif.) 67, Clark 22 — Dezire Hall had 14 points, and Tynisha Adams added 12 points to help the Knights roll past the Chargers.

Jasmaine Smalls added 10 points for Castlemont, which led 39-12 at the half.

Mary Taumoefolau had nine points for Clark.

El Rancho (Calif.) 69, Mountain View 31 — Khadidja Diakite had 22 points, and the Dons bolted to a 29-7 first-quarter lead on their way to a win over the Saints.

Ashley Miller made six 3-pointers and had 18 points, and Patty Ayala scored 13 for El Rancho.

Kiley Murphy had 12 points, and Rose Adkins scored 10 for Mountain View.