Gator Winter Classic: Green Valley goes cold shooting, falls to California school

Shots clinked, clanked and slowly rolled off the rim Wednesday.

It was just one of those nights for Green Valley’s girls basketball team.

“We usually shoot the ball a little better than that,” said Gators coach Eric Johnston, offering a friendly smile and shrug.

Green Valley shot 26.5 percent, including 1-for-11 in the third quarter, allowing visiting Beverly Hills (California) to pull away from a 21-21 halftime score and claim a 52-39 victory in the Gator Winter Classic.

“Bad nights happen,” Johnston said. “I think their length challenged us a little bit, but we just didn’t shoot the ball very well. You’re not going to win a lot of basketball games against quality teams if you don’t shoot the ball well.”

The Gators made just one basket in the third quarter, and they went without one for nine minutes after Lusi Soifua’s field goal two minutes into the third quarter. Temerity Bauer’s layup with 4:52 left in the fourth quarter ended the dry spell.

But despite the poor shooting, Green Valley still made it a contest late.

Michelle Lagunas-Monroy converted a four-point play, and Bauer hit a 3-pointer with 2:55 remaining to cut the deficit to 41-37. But the Normans countered by finishing with an 11-2 run.

“Too little, too late at that point,” Johnston said. “We got a couple to fall there, but we just couldn’t find the basket (early).”

Soifua led Green Valley with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Lagunas-Monroy had 13 points, and Rian Anderson pulled down 10 rebounds for the Gators (9-2), who were without two players because of injuries — junior guard Shelby Clark (ankle) and senior post Samara Miller (sprained medial collateral ligament).

“Some of the things we do is based around those two,” Johnston said. “But at the same time, they’ve been gone for a couple of weeks. …

“We’ll be OK. We’re battling some injuries. We’re trying to get healthy, so it’s a chance for these other kids to step up. Some of them did some good things. Everybody did some things we need to work on.”

Arbri Gills led Beverly Hills with 18 points, and teammate Michelle Duchemin scored 11.

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

Coronado 52, Boulder City 47 — Haley Tyrell scored a team-high 12 points to rally the Cougars past the Eagles.

Sade Williams added 11 points, and Teagan Varrati scored eight for Coronado, which trailed 28-20 at halftime. The Cougars outscored Boulder City 19-10 in the third quarter to take a 39-38 lead and hung on despite shooting 12-for-22 from the line.

Madison Manns led Boulder City with 14 points, and teammate Setia Cox had 13 points.

Cimarron-Memorial 66, Tech 19 — Yesenia Wesley-Nash led four double-figure scorers with 14 points in the Spartans’ win over the Roadrunners.

Amoura Whitney had 11 points, and Elise Young and Chynna Torrence each scored 10 for Cimarron.

Jessica Falline led Tech with six points.

Moapa Valley 74, Clark 52 — Lainey Cornwall led all scorers with 26 points to power the Pirates past the Chargers.

Cornwall hit five 3-pointers and scored 18 of her points in the second half.

Kaitlyn Anderson added 17 points, and Shelbi Walker scored 14 for Moapa Valley.

Marieka Dent led Clark with 15 points, and Adia Williams scored 13.

Liberty 77, Durango 20 — Rae Burrell scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first quarter as the Patriots rolled the Trailblazers.

Dre’una Edwards added 15 points, and Olivia Childress scored 10 for Liberty.

Analiyah Matthews scored eight for Durango.

Foothill 65, Valley 25 — Bri Rosales led a balanced attack with 13 points in the Falcons’ victory over the Vikings.

Kaylee Hall, Aqui Williams and Laurel Rockwood each scored eight points for Foothill, which gave up just one field goal in the first quarter and led 27-14 at halftime.

Jeuzel Pollins led Valley with 14 points.

Needles 31, Del Sol 18 — Preslee Murch led all scorers with 18 points in the Mustangs’ win over the Dragons.

Paige Murch had nine points for Needles, which led 23-17 after three quarters.

Lajaei West had 11 points for Del Sol.

Rancho 48, Fernley 46 — Kyndal Ricks poured in a game-high 22 points, and hit the game-winning 3-pointer from the left wing, as the Rams held off the Vaqueros.

Rancho led 39-29 after three quarters but fell behind 46-45 with 3.8 seconds remaining.

Off an inbounds play, Lea Williams passed to Taylor DeGourville at the free-throw line and DeGourville kicked it to Ricks, who was behind the 3-point line.

Williams finished with 12 points, and Saipress Jones scored eight for Rancho.

Hailee Edgar scored 16 points for Fernley.

Coronado 49, Dixie (Utah) 38 — Aeryn Hawkins scored 18 points to power the Cougars over the Flyers.

Haley Tyrell had eight points and eight rebounds for the Cougars, who jumped out to a 23-5 lead after the first quarter.

Sina Schwalger led Dixie with 13 points.

Spring Valley 62, Virgin Valley 15 — Alexus Quaadman scored a game-high 20 points, and the Grizzlies raced to a 31-6 lead after the first quarter en route to the victory over the Bulldogs.

Essence Booker had nine points, and Jalynn Webster scored eight for Spring Valley.

Alexis Boatright led Virgin Valley with six points.

Foothill 52, Moapa Valley 34 — Rockwood had 12 points, and Rosales scored 11 to lead the Falcons to a victory over the Pirates.

Hall had nine points, and Williams and Jailyn Johnson each scored eight for Foothill.

Cornwall led Moapa Valley with 14 points.

Clark 74, Valley 39 — Marieka Dent scored 16 points, and the Chargers stormed to a 25-6 first-quarter lead en route to the convincing victory over the Vikings.

Al’ynnay Godfrey and Rockelle Ramsey each scored 10 points, and Janiah Weathers had nine points for Clark.

Jeuzel Pollins (16 points) and Debra Schuster (10 points) led Valley.

Boulder City 41, Yerington 39 — Keely Alexander scored 13 points as the Eagles edged the Lions.

Madison Manns had nine poitns, and Setia Cox scored six for Boulder City, which trailed 16-13 at halftime.

Jayla Tolliver had 13 points for Yerington.

Fountain Valley (Calif.) 44, Tech 14 — Makenna Faught scored 10 points in the Roadrunners’ loss to the Barons.

Monet Oncu led Fountain Valley with 12 points, and Tiffany Shimizu scored eight.

Casteel (Ariz.) 61, Las Vegas 22 — Cortney Stark scored 11 points in the Wildcats’ loss to the Colts.

Autymn Franks had 11 points, and Taylor Hall scored 10 for Casteel.

Chaparral 68, Gardena (Calif.) 46 — Emani White had 18 points to power the Cowboys past the Panthers.

Riahana Davis (12 points), Brizeida Mora (11 points) and Alexandria Williams (10 points) also had strong contributions for Chaparral, which pulled away with a 23-11 fourth quarter.

Kaylynn Kawate scored 17 points for Gardena.

South Anchorage (Alaska) 46, Del Sol 23 — Markay Merchant scored 10 points in the Dragons’ loss to the Wolverines.

Lily Weimann led South Anchorage with 15 points. Jana Domingono scored nine for the Wolverines.

Spring Valley 68, Casteel (Ariz.) 26 — Ella Zanders led a balanced attack with 13 points, and the Grizzlies took a 34-6 first-quarter lead en route to dismantling the Colts.

Kayla Harris and Alexus Quaadman each added nine points, and Chelsea Camara, Essence Booker and Jalynn Webster scored eight apiece for Spring Valley.

Hall scored nine for Casteel.