Teammates on opposite sides in all-star basketball game

Bishop Gorman’s Raychel Stanley spent her high school career playing alongside Megan Jacobs and Madison Washington.

Tuesday night at Spring Valley, Stanley went up against her high school teammates.

Stanley had 11 points and eight rebounds to lead the Desert Storm Elite to a 63-60 win over the Desert Heat Elite in the girls all-star game at the first Las Vegas Basketball Classic.

The Heat raced out to a 10-3 lead early in the first quarter and maintained their seven-point edge when Gorman’s Jacobs buried a 3-pointer and hit two free throws to close the opening period. The momentum carried over to the second quarter, as the Heat scored the first eight points to take a 26-11 lead. Alexia Thrower’s rebound basket at the 4:57 mark gave the Storm its first points of the quarter, and the Canyon Springs forward followed with a layup that cut the lead to 26-15.

After falling behind 35-19, the Storm closed the half with an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 35-27.

After scoring the Storm’s final bucket of the first half, Western’s Destiny Gonzalez carried the energy into the second half for her squad, and ignited an 8-3 run by hitting a pair of free throws and a layup off a swift pass from Spring Valley’s Essence Booker, cutting the Heat’s lead to 38-35.

Then Thrower took over, scoring five of the Storm’s next seven points, and giving it a 42-41 lead midway through the third quarter. Liberty’s Taylor Turney and Celine Quintino then hit a short jumper and a 3-pointer, respectively, to give the Heat the lead, 46-42.

“I feel like we picked up the energy and began to get faith in our team and executed well and played as a team more,” said Thrower, who finished with eight points and 11 rebounds.

The Storm trailed by four heading into the final quarter, but used a 7-2 run to open the final period and took a 51-50 lead. The teams traded baskets down the stretch, but 3-pointers by Rancho’s Maureen Macato and Durango’s Brittany Romo helped the Storm seal the win.

Spring Valley’s Kayla Harris added nine points for the Storm, and Gonzalez scored six. Jacobs had 11 points, and Liberty’s Nancy Caballero added 10 points to lead the Heat. Foothill’s Rae Burrell added eight points and 10 rebounds for the Heat.

“Tonight was great because we were playing with the best,” said Gorman’s Washington, who had seven points and five rebounds for the Heat. “Usually you’re just playing with your teammates, and you normally don’t really have a choice. But tonight we had a chance to play with the best.”

In the boys’ all-star game, Trinity International’s Isiaha Mike put on a show with an array of slam dunks while leading the Sin City Thunder to a 78-63 win over the 702 Ballers. Mike hit 10 field goals, six of which were slam dunks, including three in a row to open the game. Centennial’s Troy Brown added 14 points and six rebounds for the Thunder.

Isaiah Banks led the 702 Ballers with 13 points, and Gorman’s Charles O’Bannon Jr. had 11 points and seven rebounds.

Trinity’s Melo Eggleston won the slam dunk contest. Gorman’s Zach Collins took the boys 3-point shootout, and Turney took the girls 3-point contest.