Giant-killer march continues as Cheyenne upsets Gorman

After finishing third in the Northwest Division, Cheyenne entered the Sunset Region boys basketball tournament as a bit of an afterthought.

After toppling two giants, the Desert Shields walked away on cloud nine.

A night after ending top-ranked Mojave's 22-game win streak, Cheyenne downed second-ranked Bishop Gorman 61-54 in the Sunset title game Friday at Palo Verde. The Desert Shields (18-7) will advance to next week's Class 4A state tournament in Reno.

"We beat the two best teams in the state, and we're at the top of the world," senior Christian Lightbourne said. "We feel like nothing can stop us right now. We're a brotherhood; we're a family."

Said Cheyenne coach Teral Fair: "We knew we had our work cut out for us. But I'm from the old school of thought that you've got to beat the man to be the man."

Cheyenne's full-court pressure gave Gorman (26-5) trouble all night, and the Desert Shields turned up the heat in the fourth quarter.

The Gaels turned the ball over nine times in the final period as Cheyenne erased a four-point deficit. The Desert Shields scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. Gorman had 27 turnovers in the game.

"We made a run, and then they put the press on us," said Gorman coach Grant Rice, whose team led 46-42 entering the fourth. "Sometimes we had three point guards in the game, and we still turned the ball over. Cheyenne took it from us. They got down, but they didn't give up."

Gorman outscored the Desert Shields 22-15 in the third quarter, but the Gaels were unable to pull away, thanks in large part to Lightbourne.

He was 5-for-6 from the field in the quarter and scored 12 of his game-high 23 points. He also had eight rebounds.

"Christian brings consistency of effort and energy," Fair said. "He has the respect of every single kid on the team. He's without a doubt our hardest worker, and even beyond all that, he's a tremendous young man, and I love him dearly."

Lightbourne said his teammates were just looking for the hot hand.

"We feel we have mismatches all over the court, and when we can, we try to exploit them," Lightbourne said. "Tonight, I was hot, so they let me have the ball."

Cheyenne's other post player, senior Ricky Henry, added 14 points and nine rebounds.

"Ricky did his thing like he does every night," Lightbourne said.

Elijah Johnson added 14 points, seven assists and three blocked shots for Cheyenne. Quintin Dailey led Gorman with 13 points.