Gaels girls use inside game to dispatch Mountain Lions

Zhane Dikes says very little on the basketball court.

On Monday, the Bishop Gorman junior let her game do all the talking.

Dikes scored 25 points -- all in the first three quarters -- to lead the Gaels (10-4, 6-0 Southwest) to a 73-53 win at Sierra Vista in a battle for first place in the Southwest League.

"She's a quiet, quiet kid on the court. We're all pretty quiet on the floor," Gorman coach Sheryl Krmpotich said. "Off the court, she's kind of crazy. She's not quiet at all."

Dikes was crazy good on the floor Monday, scoring 18 points in the first 11 minutes, 57 seconds of the game as the Gaels used a 23-2 run to take a 34-13 lead on Dikes' basket in the paint with 4:03 left in the second quarter.

Gorman started slowly, but Dikes was a spark, scoring 13 of its 23 points during the run.

"The kids were so hyped because they're one of the better teams in the league," Krmpotich said. "Sometimes you can be too quick and in too much of a hurry."

Dikes connected on nine of her first 12 shots from the field and had four offensive rebounds.

When she wasn't doing damage, fellow post Chelsie Pitt was.

Pitt added 18 points and nine rebounds, six of those offensive, as Gorman dominated in the paint, outscoring the Mountain Lions 48-20 from inside the key.

Sierra Vista never trimmed the deficit to fewer than 15 points in the second half.

"We just kind of went through the motions in the second half," Krmpotich said. "It's the trait of a young team. Thank God we're not jelling right now. It's January. I want to be jelling right when it gets to February."

Jasmine Suarez led the Mountain Lions (10-5, 5-1) with 21 points, making seven 3-pointers in 15 attempts. Suarez hit five 3s in the second half.

Jeanette Jackson added 19 points for Sierra Vista.

Contact reporter Bartt Davis at bdavis@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5230.