Rash leads Spring Mountain boys to semifinals

Football is Devante Rash's favorite sport, but the Spring Mountain senior figured he'd give basketball a try this winter.

The Eagles are certainly glad to have the versatile forward.

Rash had 16 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots to lead Spring Mountain to a 76-45 rout of Sandy Valley in a Class 1A Southern League quarterfinal playoff game Thursday at Sunrise Mountain.

"He's athletic, and basketball was something he wanted to do," Eagles coach Ed Cheltenham said. "He's getting better and better each game, mostly on his rebounding and getting more aggressive in scoring."

Third-seeded Spring Mountain (11-13) advanced to meet No. 2 seed Beatty (19-10), which had a bye Thursday, in the semifinal round at 4:40 p.m. today at Sunrise Mountain. The winner clinches a spot in Saturday's title game and an automatic berth in the 1A state tournament.

A floater by Brandon Hughes pulled sixth-seeded Sandy Valley (3-12) within 24-15 midway through the second quarter. But Spring Mountain closed the first half on a 13-2 run and never lost momentum.

Jamarr Smith had 19 points, seven rebounds and three steals for Spring Mountain. Tovalier Doss added 13 points and Maurice Williams scored 11 for the Eagles.

Ryan Hagan had 23 points to lead Sandy Valley, and Hughes supplied 13 points and six rebounds.

■ Round Mountain 60, Tonopah 54 -- Bryan Moreno scored 21 points, including four free throws in the final 1:30, to help the Knights (13-10) hold on to eliminate the Muckers (7-14).

Serjio Chavez added 13 points for fifth-seeded Round Mountain, which will play No. 1 seed Pahranagat Valley (22-4) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. today.

Spencer Littlefield led Tonopah with 14 points. Eric Reynoso had 12 points and seven rebounds for the Muckers.

GIRLS

■ Indian Springs 35, Lund 32 -- Alexxa Reinke compiled 16 points, seven rebounds and two steals as the Thunderbirds (13-7) held on to oust the Mustangs (7-11).

Indian Springs outscored Lund 12-1 in the third quarter to build a 28-18 lead. Lund shot 0-for-16 from the floor in the period and didn't score until 17.8 seconds remained.

"We've been working all week on defense," Indian Springs coach Darcey Albright said. "The girls really stepped up and played great defense."

Indian Springs will play No. 1 seed Pahranagat Valley (15-8) in the semifinals at 6:20 p.m. today.

Melynda Boren led Lund with 10 points and nine rebounds. Kaitlin Farnsworth supplied nine points and 11 rebounds for the Mustangs.

■ Beatty 39, Round Mountain 38 -- Alyssa Regalado's free throw with just under two minutes left gave the Hornets (12-10) the win.

Amber Ibarra had 11 points and seven rebounds for Beatty, which will play Tonopah (10-6) at 3 p.m. today.

Freshman Morgan Manley led Round Mountain (5-15) with 19 points.

Contact reporter Tristan Aird at taird@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203.