VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Walker, Sundevils top host Saints
Eldorado girls basketball coach Danielle Pope was stuck in traffic and arrived midway through the first quarter Monday.
Luckily for the Sundevils, Deasia Walker was there from the start.
Walker finished with 28 points and six rebounds, and Eldorado defeated host Mountain View 52-44 in the consolation bracket semifinals of the 11th annual Vegas Invitational.
The Sundevils will meet the winner of Tuesday’s Bonanza-Rock Academy (Calif.) game in the consolation bracket title game at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
“Eldorado has a bad reputation for losing,” Pope said. “We turned the program around last year, and we’re fighting this year. We just have to keep fighting.”
Kiley Murphy had 23 points and seven rebounds for Mountain View, and teammate Rose Adkins finished with 15 points. Murphy and Adkins combined to make eight 3-pointers to keep the Saints in the game.
Walker scored 13 points in the third quarter as Eldorado took control after leading 23-21 at halftime. She had seven points during the Sundevils’ 10-0 run to open the third quarter, then picked up a loose ball after a Mountain View turnover and converted a three-point play to put Eldorado on top 39-26 with 2:31 left in the quarter.
Daria Lomasney knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Sundevils their biggest lead of the game at 50-34 with 3:37 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Lomasney finished with nine points and six rebounds. Skyler Lomasney and DyShae Shaw each added six rebounds for Eldorado.
“We came out a lot harder in the third quarter,” Pope said. “We used our post game since we were a little taller than them. When you play a team like this, you have to use fundamentals.”
Nia Van Kempen added eight rebounds for Mountain View, and Mia Shingles had seven rebounds for the Saints, who closed the game on a 10-2 run and will play the Bonanza-Rock Academy loser at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday.
Arroyo Valley (Calif.) 61, Mojave 19 — Charleea Armstrong had eight points in the Rattlers loss to the Hawks in the championship bracket semifinals.
Nidirah Stephens, who is drawing recruiting interest from UNLV, had 26 points to lead Arroyo Grande, while teammate Tamara Trigg added 21 points. Trigg averaged 41.5 points during the first two games of the tournament.
Arroyo Valley, which led 38-14, will meet the winner of Tuesday’s other semifinal between Clark and El Rancho (Calif.) at 8 p.m. Tuesday for the tournament title.
Clark 33, Sierra Lutheran 11 — Bobbi Floyd had 19 points, and the Chargers held the Falcons scoreless in the first half to finish atop Pool D.
Floyd scored 15 of her points in the second half. Clark will take on El Rancho (Calif.) at 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Sierra Lutheran’s first basket came on a jumper by Leanna Temple with 7:28 remaining in the third quarter. Temple led the Falcons with six points.
Clark 45, Rock Academy (Calif.) 28 — Floyd scored 24 points, including 18 in the second half, to lift the Chargers past the Warriors in Pool D.
Clark outscored Rock Academy 29-12 in the middle quarters.
Anya Nordling had 12 points, and teammate Taryn Mueller scored 11 for the Warriors.
El Rancho (Calif.) 63, Bonanza 42 — Alyssa Powers had 19 points, but the Bengals lost to the Dons in Pool C action.
Stephanie Camarolinga added 10 points for Bonanza, which finished second in its pool.
Crystal Rodriguez led a balanced scoring attack for El Rancho with 13 points.
River Valley (Ariz.) 41, Western 39 — Baylee Butcher banked in an 18-foot jumper just before the final buzzer as the Dust Devils upended the Warriors.
Butcher made 1 of 2 free throws with 48.1 seconds remaining to tie the game at 39. Western had a late shot, but couldn’t convert and Krista Jackman grabbed the rebound for River Valley.
The Dust Devils quickly got the ball in the hands of Butcher, who raced down court and hit the winner to cap an 18-9 fourth-quarter run.
Destiny Gonzalez and Capricia Pierce each had 12 points to lead Western. Gonzalez had nine points in the second quarter when the Warriors outscored River Valley 17-4 to take a 23-20 lead at halftime.
Sunrise Mountain 57, Mountain View 30 — Ayla Diaz finished with 12 points, and the Miners pulled away from the host Saints in a non-tournament game.
Tyrah Lee and Tayaa Pratt each had nine points for Sunrise Mountain, which outscored Mountain View 38-15 in the second half.
Adkins led the Saints with 12 points.