Lightbourne controls glass, Gators

Despite giving up as much as five inches to Green Valley's post players, Cheyenne senior Christian Lightbourne didn't back down Friday.

The 6-foot-3-inch senior had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and his aggressive rebounding helped the Desert Shields gain an easy 67-44 victory over the Gators in the semifinals of the Vegas Valley Invitational at Durango.

The win lifted Cheyenne into the championship against Mojave at 4 p.m. today at Durango. Mojave advanced with a 70-48 win over Durango.

Eight of Lightbourne's 14 points came after offensive rebounds as he helped the Desert Shields make up for a lack of size inside.

"He was huge on the boards," Cheyenne coach Teral Fair said. "And he's probably been our most consistent player all season. He's giving us a great effort on the defensive end and a great effort offensively."

Lightbourne seldom gets the ball in Cheyenne's offensive sets, but he runs the floor and crashes the glass to get his opportunities.

"He's playing his role," Fair said. "We ask him to be a beast on the glass and guard his guy and not hurt us on the offensive end. And now he's scoring points, which is an added bonus."

The game was close early, but the Desert Shields closed the first half with a 7-2 run to make it 30-22. Cheyenne then scored the first 10 points of the second half to pull away.

"We've been playing pretty well the last couple of weeks, actually," Fair said. "We've been clicking pretty well."

Josh McCarver led Green Valley with 14 points and three blocked shots.

• Mojave 70, Durango 48 -- Anthony Marshall had 25 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and four blocked shots as the Rattlers rolled in the semifinals.

Kevin James added 26 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for Mojave.

Ron Barnes led Durango with 11 points and nine rebounds.

• Mojave 57, Faith Lutheran 55 -- Darian Norris had 19 points and hit four free throws in the final 26 seconds to help the Rattlers hold off the Crusaders to reach the semifinals.

Marshall added 16 points, seven rebounds, six steals and five assists.

Diontea Wright led Faith Lutheran with 25 points and 15 rebounds. Max Done added 12 points and five assists.

• Durango 86, Bartlett (Alaska) 85 -- Jamal Crook scored 32 points, including six in overtime, to lead the Trailblazers to a quarterfinal victory.

Barnes added 17 points for Durango. Kevin Winford scored 43 for Bartlett.

• Cheyenne 70, Miami Senior 48 -- Demario Harris and Demetric Williams each scored 12 points and Ricky Henry added 10 as the Desert Shields won in the quarterfinals.

• Green Valley 70, Spring Valley 57 -- Cody Aughney had 20 points and Matt Gable had 13 to lead the Gators over the Grizzlies in the quarterfinals.

Jason Walter paced Spring Valley with 17 points.

• Shadow Ridge 48, Basic 43 -- Tyler Marshall had 12 points to help the Mustangs reach the consolation final.

Shadow Ridge plays Desert Pines at 12:30 p.m. today.

Josh Ross scored 20 points for the Wolves.

• Desert Pines 101, Marshall (Ore.) 76 -- Paul Burns had 20 points as the Jaguars got to the consolation championship.

Pierre Jackson added 19 points and Reggie Shaw 18.

• Miami Senior 76, Spring Valley 66 -- Julian Vasquez had 33 points to lead the Stingarees.

Jason Walter scored 24 to lead the Grizzlies.

• Shadow Ridge 87, Roosevelt (Calif.) 44 -- Darryl Tootle had 14 points to lead five Mustangs in double figures.

• Faith Lutheran 49, Bartlett (Alaska) 33 -- Chase Saunders scored 12 points to lead the Crusaders to victory.

• Marshall (Ore.) 62, Chaparral 48 -- Domo Giles and Mitch Beckwith each had 19 points to lead Marshall. James Allison led the Cowboys with 13.

• Desert Pines 82, Cedarbridge Academy (Bermuda) 30 -- Pierre Jackson, Kimani Bullard and Shaw each scored 14 as the Jaguars routed the Wildcats.

• Basic 50, Schurr (Calif.) 46 -- Josh Ross scored 13 points and James Holmes 12 to lead the Wolves.

• Chaparral 50, Cedarbridge Academy (Bermuda) 24 -- Tyquiese Anthony scored 12 to lead the Cowboys.