Bishop Gorman pulls away to win Tarkanian Classic opener
At times, Bishop Gorman basketball coach Grant Rice was wildly entertained by his team Wednesday.
At others, he was on the brink of pulling out his hair.
The good far outweighed the bad, though, as the Gaels pulled away for a 79-48 win over Lone Peak (Utah) in their Tarkanian Classic opener at Orleans Arena.
“It is a lot of fun when things are going and you see those runs where we go on a 10-0 or a 12-2 run, and then we have those little lapses,” Rice said. “We’re a good team right now. To be a great team, we have to stop those momentum changes.”
Gorman (7-1) threatened to run away early, leading 25-7 less than seven minutes into the game.
Lone Peak (8-2) answered with a 19-7 run that cut Gorman’s lead to 32-26 before the Gaels reawakened to grab a 45-28 halftime lead.
“We just stayed composed,” Gorman sophomore guard Will McClendon said. “It’s a game of runs. It’s going to happen.”
The Gaels scored one point in the first 2:40 of the second half, but the constant of the night — defense — made sure the Knights wouldn’t again make a game of it.
“We just focused on playing really good man-to-man defense,” Rice said. “We knew they were good shooters. We knew they were fundamental, and we just wanted to keep them in front of us.”
Gorman used a 19-0 run during a near seven-minute stretch midway through the second half to put the game out of reach.
McClendon, a 6-foot-4-inch guard, sparked Gorman’s defense, grabbing 10 rebounds.
Gorman limited the Knights to 9 of 33 shooting in the second half and forced 18 turnovers in the game.
“We just had energy, and we talked,” McClendon said. “They moved the ball, but when we rotate and we just talk, it’s easier.”
Noah Taitz paced Gorman with 26 points. Isaiah Cottrell scored 16 and McClendon 12.
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Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4602.
