Bonanza’s defense stuffs Sierra Vista in waning seconds

The Bengals switched from the 2-3 zone they’d played all night to a man-to-man defense in order to stop Sierra Vista from making a winning shot.

Mission accomplished.

Bonanza forced the Lions into an off-balanced 10-foot jumper that hit the rim and fell away, preserving the Bengals’ 53-52 victory in a Southwest Division matchup.

“We guessed they would probably set something up for a zone,” Bonanza coach Dean Bosch said. “We needed to play five seconds of man-to-man defense and just get one stop.”

After consecutive timeouts, the Lions inbounded from under their basket to point guard Jeannette Jackson, who scored 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Jackson cut into the lane but never got a good look at the basket and had to force the shot.

“She was the person we were looking to stop,” Bosch said.

The Lions, who trailed 37-31 after three quarters, rallied to take a 50-47 lead on a drive by Jackson with 2:15 left.

Four free throws by Christin Figgins, sandwiched around a transition basket by Terra Novak, gave the Bengals a 53-50 lead with 41.2 seconds left.

Brianna Tolliver’s put-back basket with 29.3 seconds left brought the Lions within a point.

Bonanza missed two free throws with 13.4 seconds remaining, giving the Lions one last chance.

Novak led Bonanza with 13 points. Shirley Pitts scored 11 and Asta Galaviz 10 for the Bengals.

Jackson finished with 20 points. Tolliver scored 11, and teammate Danielle Patella grabbed 11 rebounds.

Bonanza (13-7, 5-3 Southwest) opened a two-game lead over Sierra Vista (9-16, 3-5) for third place in the division.

“This was a big game,” Bosch said. “We’ve had a playoff mentality for the last few games.”

The Lions, who forfeited 10 games, including one league game, because of an ineligible player, are half a game ahead of Spring Valley for the final playoff spot in the division.

“We’ve battled pretty well,” Sierra Vista coach Lindsay Whalen said. “We’re right in the middle of things. We just want to keep going as long as we can.”

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LaBrea Walker added 10 points and nine assists for Desert Pines.

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Shane Ireland added 10 points for Mojave. Karyn Turner and Precious Carroll each scored 15 for Cimarron.

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Jocelyn Cox added 13 points for Lake Mead.

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