Beals unwraps belated gift in Bengals’ victory

Datril Beals gave her Bonanza teammates a late Christmas present Thursday.

The sophomore provided a spark at just the right moment to help the Bengals defeat Shadow Ridge 49-41 in the Basic Lady Wolves Holiday Tournament.

A 5-foot-1-inch guard, Beals scored three transition baskets in a span of 51 seconds early in the fourth quarter, keying a game-clinching 10-0 run. She finished with a game-high 21 points.

"She's a phenomenal athlete," Bonanza coach Dean Bosch said. "She's not usually a big scorer, but every night she's capable of doing something like that."

The Bengals appeared to have the game in hand, up 27-15 with 5:30 left in the third quarter.

Shadow Ridge rallied behind a strong transition game and whittled the deficit to 32-31 in the first minute of the fourth quarter. The Mustangs scored seven of eight baskets in transition as Bonanza had trouble trying to match Shadow Ridge's speed.

But up stepped Beals, who didn't start the game but had 19 of the Bengals' 40 points in the final three quarters.

"She was huge for us tonight," Bosch said. "When we get her in the open floor, she's pretty good. She's as quick as anyone we've seen."

Laura Nelson added 14 rebounds for the Bengals as the teams struggled early to find any shooting touch, combining to make only 15 of 70 shots in the first half.

Elisha Hensey led the Mustangs with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Jessica Scarpati and Robyn Goodspeed also had 11 rebounds apiece.

In the other Gold Division games:

• Cheyenne 49, Spring Valley 21 -- Raven Hicks scored 21 points in the first three quarters, and the Desert Shields surrendered only eight second-half points.

• Basic 49, Faith Lutheran 42 -- Lauren Johnson scored 10 points in the fourth quarter to help the Wolves break a 36-36 tie heading into the final eight minutes.

Maya Darby led the Wolves with 18 points. Johnson had 16.

• Post Falls (Idaho) 59, Foothill 44 -- Mercedes Starr hit six 3-pointers for the Falcons, but it wasn't enough.

Katelyn Loper led Post Falls with 19 points.

In the Silver Division:

• Clark 68, Boulder City 67 -- Angelena Cook poured in a tourney-best 29 points to help the Chargers hold off Boulder City.

Cook scored 18 points in the second half, and a three-point play by Chantelle Robinson gave Clark a 68-63 lead with 28.8 seconds left. Boulder City's bid to win on an in-bounds play with 3.1 seconds left hit the rim.

• Liberty 56, Cimarron-Memorial 46 -- Amanda Delgado scored 14 of her 16 points in the second half to spark the Patriots, who pulled away from a 21-21 halftime tie.

Precious Carroll led Cimarron with 16 points.

• Butler (Pa.) 67, Mojave 52 -- Olivia Breshnahan led all scorers with 25 points as the Tornado built a big lead with a 21-9 second-quarter run.

Chelsea Hopkins paced Mojave with 24 points.

• Desert Pines 58, Del Sol 21 -- LeBrea Walker scored 17 points as the Jaguars cruised.