Freshman’s late heroics lift Palo Verde

When his team's season fell on the shoulders of a freshman Wednesday night, Palo Verde girls basketball coach Phil Clarke wasn't nervous.

In his eyes, freshman guard Jasmin Kiley was "probably the calmest one out there."

Kiley hit a crucial fourth-quarter 3-pointer, then shot 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in overtime, lifting the Panthers to a 67-60 home win over Durango in the quarterfinals of the Class 4A Sunset Region playoffs.

"If someone else was watching, you wouldn't have been able to guess that she was a freshman," Clarke said. "Jazz stepped up big."

Hayley Henderson scored 22 points to lead Palo Verde (17-7), which will host Bishop Gorman at 6:20 p.m. today.

Shameka Smith added 15 points and Kiley 13 for the Panthers, who scored the first eight points of overtime and went on to outscore the Trailblazers 12-5 in the extra period.

"We just really wanted it," said Henderson, who has signed with Northern Arizona. "We wanted it so bad. We told the underclassmen we wanted it, and they wanted it as much as we did."

In her final game at Durango (23-10), UNLV signee Mia Bell had 36 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals.

When asked how Durango rallied from a 38-23 third-quarter deficit to go ahead 54-48 in the final minute of regulation, Henderson said with a laugh: "Mia."

"When Mia starts hitting shots and starts getting pumped up, she just pumps up the rest of the team," Durango coach Lindsay Callaghan said. "They stepped up getting some rebounds and doing the little things."

But Palo Verde went on a 7-1 run in the final 50 seconds of regulation, highlighted by a Kiley 3-pointer and a game-tying layup by Henderson.

Kiley then scored six points in overtime. She was 8-for-9 at the free-throw line overall.

Durango was held scoreless in OT until the final minute when Bell scored.

"Offensively, we needed somebody else to step up and pick up some slack, and that didn't happen," Callaghan said.

Clarke said the Panthers let the lead slip away after letting up.

"Instead of pushing like we normally do, I think we thought, 'We've got the lead; let's relax a little bit,' " he said. "But as soon as we relaxed, that's when (Durango) kept pushing."

That's when Kiley took over, which didn't surprise Henderson.

"We always look for her to shoot. She has a great jump shot," Henderson said.

• Legacy 62, Bonanza 53 -- At Bonanza, Kindrea Poole had 23 points and 16 rebounds as the Longhorns upset the Bengals.

Kendra Irving added 14 points for Legacy, which used a 17-4 run to erase an early seven-point deficit.

Poole had eight points in the third quarter as the Longhorns took a 39-26 lead into the fourth.

Bonanza was 2-for-20 from the field in the third quarter and finished 18-for-77.

Shirley Pitts scored 26 for the Bengals.

• Centennial 90, Sierra Vista 55 -- At Centennial, Johnna Brown had 25 points and six assists, and Deanna Daniels tallied 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven steals as the Bulldogs routed the Mountain Lions.

Alexis Byrd had 17 points and Shannon Brown 15 for Centennial, which led 45-27 at halftime.

Sierra Vista's Teena Baxter had 14 points, Nicolette Grigsby 12 and Jeanette Jackson 11.

• Bishop Gorman 71, Cheyenne 31 -- At Gorman, Dannielle Diamant had 22 points and 17 rebounds in the first three quarters as the Gaels ran away from the Desert Shields.

Gorman's Aaryn Ellenberg added 14 points and Chelsie Pitt 12.

Taryn Hicks led Cheyenne with 11 points.

CLASS 1A

• Round Mountain 46, Lake Mead 32 -- At Round Mountain, the third-seeded Knights advanced to face Pahranagat Valley in the Southern Region semifinals.

• Beatty 50, Tonopah 33 -- At Beatty, Autumn Spicer scored 18 points and Naomi Cruz 13 as the Hornets advanced to play top-seeded Lund in the semifinals.