Gator Winter Classic: Cimarron falls to Spanish Springs after first-half knockdown

Malcolm Griffin compared Cimarron-Memorial’s girls basketball game Thursday afternoon to a hard-fought boxing match.

To his players’ detriment, the Spartans were the ones taking all the early blows.

And they couldn’t rebound from a first-half knockdown.

Cimarron-Memorial fell behind 18-3 early in the second quarter and couldn’t recover in its 54-45 loss to Spanish Springs in the Gator Winter Classic at Green Valley.

“We didn’t start well — came out lackadaisical and couldn’t rebound from that,” Griffin, the Spartans coach, said. “Just came out flat.”

Griffin cited a lack of energy and poor execution.

Spanish Springs, one of the Northern Region’s top Class 4A teams, sped the Spartans up with its 2-2-1 full-court pressure and took a 14-3 lead after the first quarter.

But Cimarron (9-3) showed the resiliency that has made it one of Southern Nevada’s surprise teams this season — a grittiness that should result in a Northwest League playoff spot by season’s end.

On Thursday, the Spartans closed the second quarter on a 17-9 run to make it 27-20 at halftime. They pulled within 29-26 with 4:55 left in the third quarter — the closest they’d get — after Elise Young’s steal led to an easy bucket in transition for teammate Amoura Whitney.

“We’ve got a resilient bunch,” Griffin said. “It’s been like that a lot this year. Almost all of our games. … But we’ve got to set the tone and be the (team) that punches in the face, not the (team) who’s got to get up from the knockdown. We’ve got to be the attacker.”

For most of the first half, they were the victim.

But Griffin was proud his team competed throughout. Cimarron went on a 7-1 run to end the game by forcing four turnovers in the last two minutes.

“(Winning) is unfamiliar to our program,” said Griffin, whose team missed the playoffs last year. “Lot of these kids have been in the program for a while now, and my seniors haven’t had a winning season. I think they’re getting to the point where they’re hating to lose more than they like winning. … We’ve just got to keep trying to wake people up.”

Kierra Johnson led Spanish Springs with 15 points. Serena Sanchez had 13 points, and Lauryn Dressler scored 10 for the Cougars.

Contact reporter Ashton Ferguson at aferguson@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0430. Follow @af_ferguson on Twitter.

Flagstaff (Ariz.) 65, Del Sol 21 — Lajaei West scored 10 points in the Dragons’ loss to the Eagles.

Markay Merchant added nine points for Del Sol.

Madison McCabe (12 points) and Sheridan Edgewater (10 points) led Flagstaff.

Foothill 47, Clark 32 — Bri Rosales scored a game-high 13 points to lead the Falcons past the Chargers.

Kaylee Hall added 12 points for Foothill, which led 34-15 at halftime. The Falcons held Clark scoreless in the second quarter to pull away.

Marieka Dent led Clark with seven points.

Coronado 70, Yerington 24 — Haley Tyrell scored a team-high 15 points and had seven rebounds and four assists in the Cougars’ dominating win over the Lions.

Katie Hamlin had 14 points, and Teagan Varrati added nine points for Coronado, which got eight points apiece from Dallas Balanay-Flores and Jade Thomas.

Thomas also had 16 rebounds.

Milia Picottee led Yerington with six points.

Cimarron-Memorial 50, Fountain Valley (Calif.) 48 — Tasia Moore scored 10 points as the Spartans held off the Barons despite shooting 14-for-25 from the line.

Young had nine points for Cimarron, which outscored Fountain Valley 15-10 in the fourth quarter.

Megan Hughes and Monet Oncu each scored 12 for Fountain Valley.

Dixie (Utah) 35, Boulder City 24 — Madison Manns scored 11 points in the Eagles’ loss to the Flyers.

Hannah Estes had five points for Boulder City, which trailed 24-16 at halftime.

Sina Schwalger led Dixie with 12 points.

Spanish Springs 54, Tech 14 — The Roadrunners were outscored 31-2 in the first quarter en route to their losing effort against the Cougars.

Kierra Johnson and Mariah Barraza scored eight apiece for Spanish Springs.

Silverado 37, Fullerton (Calif.) 30 — Kimber Tanner and Jasmine Waugh scored 10 points apiece to lead the Skyhawks past the Indians.

Faith McCormick had six points for Silverado, which rallied from a 12-9 halftime deficit. The Skyhawks outscored Fullerton 15-8 in the third quarter to take commmand.

Hallie Coleman had nine points for Fullerton.

South Anchorage (Alaska) 35, Needles 31 — Paige Murch had 11 points in the Mustangs’ loss to Wolverines.

Lily Weimann had 11 points for South Anchorage.

Moapa Valley 67, Valley 45 — Kaitlyn Anderson poured in 25 points, and the Pirates raced to a 29-19 halftime lead before dismantling the Vikings.

Lainey Cornwall had 20 points for Moapa Valley.

Kiara Brown had 14 points to lead Valley, which also got contributions from Jeuzel Pollins (13 points) and Demari Sprinkle-Blakney (12 points).

Liberty 78, Chaparral 21 — London Pavlica led all scorers with 22 points, and Jahnae Nickels scored 13 in the Patriots’ rout of the Cowboys.

Dre’una Edwards had 11 points, and Rae Burrell added nine points for Liberty.

Riahana Davis had nine points for Chaparral.

Rolling Hills (Calif.) 50, Rancho 15 — Saipress Jones scored seven points, but the Rams fell behind 28-13 at halftime in their loss to the Huskies.

Macy Pakele led four double-figure scorers for Rolling Hills. Clarice Akunwafo had 11 points, and Alyssa Maxey and Naya Stroud each scored 10 points.

Virgin Valley 50, Las Vegas 21 — Taylor Barnum scored a game-high 16 points in the Bulldogs’ victory over the Wildcats.

Areli Ponce had 10 points, and Alexis Boatright scored nine for Virgin Valley.

Aira Maigue led Las Vegas with seven points.

Flagstaff (Ariz.) 60, Needles 8 — The Mustangs allowed nine 3-pointers and fell behind 29-1 after one quarter in their loss to the Eagles.

Reece Honanie led 12 scorers with seven points for Flagstaff.

San Leandro (Calif.) 44, Foothill 43 — Rosales led a balanced attack with 14 points, but the Falcons were outscored 15-1 in the fourth quarter in their loss to the Pirates.

Emily Capps had nine points, and Kaylee Hall scored eight for Foothill, which led 42-29 after three quarters.

Mykala Pakeman led San Leandro with 13 points.

Spring Valley 64, Las Vegas 10 — Ella Zanders, Alexus Quaadman and Chelsea Camara each scored 12 points, and the Grizzlies blew by the Wildcats.

Jalynn Webster added nine points for Spring Valley.

Maigue led Las Vegas with six points.

Durango 54, Gardena (Calif.) 43 — Dar’Juanah Harris scored 18 points, and the Trailblazers pulled away in the fourth quarter playing 5-on-4 against the Panthers.

Analiyah Matthews had 16 points, and Mahoganey Sua scored eight for Durango, which led 32-28 after three quarters and took advantage of a depleted Gardena squad.

Kaylynn Kawate led Gardena with 21 points.

Casteel (Ariz.) 64, Virgin Valley 39 — Taylor Barnum had 14 points, and Nathalie Lagamayo scored seven in the Bulldogs’ loss to the Colts.

Taylor Hall led all scorers with 18 points for Casteel.

Green Valley 60, Kingsburg (Calif.) 31 — Temerity Bauer had 17 points to help the Gators defeat the Vikings.

Michelle Lagunas-Monroy added 15 points and four steals, and Lusi Soifua had five points, six rebounds and four blocks for Green Valley, which stormed to a 32-11 lead after the first quarter.

Maddy Reed had 15 points for Kingsburg.

Beverly Hills (Calif.) 47, Silverado 11 — The Skyhawks gave up 11 3-pointers and only scored single points in the third and fourth quarters in their loss to the Normans.

Arbri Gillis led Beverly Hills with 10 points.