SUNSET GIRLS: Spartans fight through adversity, hold off Panthers

Cimarron-Memorial girls basketball coach Tim Resch paced the sideline and muttered to himself late in the fourth quarter Wednesday as his team teetered on the brink of disaster.

The Spartans committed turnovers on three consecutive possessions and saw their lead, which had been as large as nine points in the fourth quarter, trimmed to one point with 24.9 seconds remaining, leaving Resch to fear the worst.

“This group, we only have one player with any kind of postseason experience on our team,” Resch said, “and I knew coming into tonight that was probably going to be a bit of an issue if we got into a close game at the end.”

But the Spartans proved the first-year coach wrong, making a key defensive stop and just enough free throws to hold on for a 53-52 victory over host Palo Verde in the opening round of the Division I Sunset Region tournament.

Cimarron (13-14), which was making its second postseason appearance since 2002, will meet Northwest League champion Centennial (27-2) in the region semifinals at 3 p.m. Thursday at Arbor View.

“This win means a lot to the program,” Resch said. “It’s been a successful year for the girls. Once we got into regionals, the goal is to try to keep winning and moving on. The girls played with a lot of heart and desire.”

Zaquae Downton led Cimarron with 15 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out with 1:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. Efferson added 11 points, all in the second half, and 10 boards.

The Spartans led 47-38 with 3:35 left to play after Efferson’s baseline drive, but Palo Verde (10-16) battled back and trailed 50-49 with 24.9 seconds to go after a 3-pointer by Paulina Silcox.

After Amoura Whitney went 1-for-2 at the foul line to put Cimarron up 51-49, Silcox drove to her left but lost the ball with 11 seconds remaining. Efferson then made two free throws with 8.5 seconds left to put the Spartans on top 53-49.

Silcox made a 3-pointer with two seconds on the clock to cut Cimarron’s lead to one point, but the Spartans were able to inbound the ball to Efferson and she dribbled out the rest of the time.

Cimarron went 10-for-13 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and finished 22-for-32 overall. Palo Verde finished 18-for-38 at the foul line.

“Free-throw shooting is huge. That’s one thing we’ve worked on all year,” Resch said. “We shot probably 1,000 free throws over the last four days, and it really paid off, that’s for sure.”

Silcox had 12 of her 13 points in the second half. Brooklyn Cruz tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds, and Makayla Johnson added 10 points for the Panthers.

Palo Verde went nearly nine minutes without a field goal in the first half as the Spartans took a 23-16 lead at halftime. Efferson broke out of a shooting slump in the third quarter with seven points, including a 3-pointer with 1:03 left in the quarter that gave Cimarron its largest lead of the game at 37-27.

“I’ll give it to Palo. They had some really good defense, and they were very aggressive,” Resch said. “Our girls had to fight through that adversity. They just kept fighting.

“I told them all year, ‘You’ve got to fight; no one’s going to give it to you. You’ve got to take it,’ and I think they really lived by that tonight. They took this one.”

Centennial 72, Durango 24 — At Centennial, Tanjanae Wells scored 20 points as the Bulldogs routed the Trailblazers (8-14).

Justice Ethridge had 17 points, and Jayden Eggleston added 12 points for Centennial, which used a 34-12 second-quarter run to pull away. The Bulldogs held Durango to three points in the second half, and neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

Jazmin Chavez scored 12 points to lead the Trailblazers.

Bishop Gorman 66, Desert Oasis 33 — At Gorman, Samantha Coleman had 15 points as the Gaels dispatched the Diamondbacks.

Raychel Stanley scored 13 points, and teammate Madison Washington added 12 points for Gorman (21-4), which will play Arbor View (19-9) in the semifinals at 6:20 p.m. Thursday at Arbor View.

Mikala Kirby led Desert Oasis (11-11) with 10 points.

Arbor View 61, Legacy 39 — At Arbor View, Ariona Gill had 28 points to power the Aggies past the Longhorns.

Caroline Rivera added 10 points for Arbor View.

C’Aree Stevenson led Legacy (11-18) with 14 points.