LV PREP CHAMPIONSHIP: Eldorado boys run, rally to Gold Division title

Some boys basketball teams can get into trouble when playing too quickly.

Eldorado seems to be at its best with the pedal to the metal.

The Sundevils punched the accelerator in the second half Thursday, coming from behind for a 65-59 win over Cheyenne for the Gold Division title at the Las Vegas Prep Championship at Las Vegas High.

“We’ve got to react more than try to think out there,” Eldorado coach Phil Olsen said. “Sometimes we get to where we think too much, and we’ve just got to use our speed and our athleticism and get out and run and play pressure defense.

“When we have to sit there and think we tend to slow down. And that’s something we’ve got to clean up.”

Cheyenne controlled the tempo with a strong showing from the perimeter in the first half, as the Desert Shields took a 41-30 lead into the locker room.

Jamal Peterson was especially effective, making 7 of 10 shots, including 2-for-3 on 3-pointers en route to 18 first-half points.

Cheyenne shot 17-of-29 (58.6 percent) from the field in the first half, including 4-for-7 on 3-pointers.

But Eldorado turned up the pressure a bit after halftime, and the Desert Shields cooled off, going 7-for-30 (23.3 percent) from the field after halftime.

“I think that was really the deciding factor of the game was they didn’t shoot the ball well in the second half,” Olsen said. “We picked up our defense and ran the ball better.”

Da’Quon Thrower’s driving layup with 6:55 to play gave the Sundevils a 52-51 lead, and they wouldn’t trail again.

Thrower and D.J. Billingsley each had eight points in the second half to key Eldorado’s rally.

“We started off the game running, and then all of a sudden they went to a zone and hit a couple shots and we quit running,” Olsen said. “Offensively, we concentrated on pushing the ball up the floor and getting the quick shot and trying to speed up the game (in the second half).”

Billingsley and Markeith Floyd each finished with 15 points, and Thrower scored 10 for the Sundevils. Billingsley added nine rebounds, and Floyd and Thrower each had five assists.

Peterson finished with 20 points for Cheyenne. Khalid Banks added 13 points, eight rebounds and three assists, Jaquon Coleman had 10 points and five assists, and Bryan Laws grabbed 11 rebounds for Cheyenne.

Serra (Calif.) 75, Clark 64 — The Cavaliers opened the game with a 16-2 run, and the Chargers never recovered in the Platinum Division title game.

“They made us go faster than we’d been used to,” Clark coach Chad Beeten said. “All week we had been the faster team, and they sped us up a little bit more than we wanted to early, and it took us a little bit to get going on that.”

Clark was 1-for-10 from the field and turned the ball over seven times in the game’s first seven minutes.

Serra pushed the lead to as much as 22 on a basket by Daddy Ugbede with 8:20 to play. Clark was able to get as close as nine, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

“We got it down to a manageable amount, but we could just never get over that hump,” Beeten said.
Ugbede led Serra with 20 points and six rebounds.

Kentrell Washington paced Clark with 17 points, and teammate Bryan McGriff scored 16.

“I told the kids be proud of what we accomplished, but don’t be satisfied,” Beeten said. “When you get satisfied, that’s when you stop getting better. And we’ve got to get better.”

Bonanza 64, Spring Creek 34 — Freshman Carter Olsen scored 25 points as the Bengals topped the Spartans in the Bronze Division championship game.

Olsen hit five 3-pointers. Cameron Ladson added 11 points for Bonanza.

Westlake (Calif.) 78, Sierra Vista 32 — Josh Brooks scored 22 points to help the Warriors rout the Mountain Lions in the Silver Division title game.

Wesley Rouse led Sierra Vista with nine points.