Undefeated Chaparral girls crush Agassi Prep

Tichina Savoy's high school basketball career hasn't been filled with wins.

The Chaparral senior, in her fourth year on varsity, has watched her team take more than its share of lumps.

This year, Savoy and the Cowboys are fighting back in a big way.

Chaparral added to its best start in recent memory Wednesday, moving to 7-0 with a 56-17 dismantling of Agassi Prep in the opening round of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View.

"We don't want to go back to what it was last year," Savoy said. "We want to do better than last year. We want to better ourselves."

Ten seasons removed from their last playoff appearance, the Cowboys were 18-51 in the past three seasons and 27-82 in the past five.

Chaparral hasn't had more than seven wins in a season during that time.

They've already matched that total this year.

"We expect them to be successful. Why wouldn't we?" said assistant coach Evan Nunez, who filled in Wednesday for first-year head coach Chris Williams.

"They work hard," Nunez added. "They should be able to reap what they sow, and they're sowing some very, very good seeds right now."

They're doing it with a more aggressive defense - one that held the Stars to 1-for-20 shooting with 18 turnovers in the middle two quarters. It allowed Chaparral to expand a 14-8 lead to 52-11 after three quarters.

"We're aggressive with our pressure," Nunez said. "We really want to capitalize on turnovers. We stay together, and they don't get down on each other."

The Cowboys tallied six transition baskets in a three-minute stretch of the second quarter, with five players getting at least one basket.

"We work together," Savoy said. "We're all very positive with each other. We're in shape. We're running, and we're working hard in practice."

Unique Wilson led Chaparral with 15 points, all in the first three quarters, and six rebounds. Savoy added seven points as the Cowboys were 26 of 50 from the field.

Azaria Conway led Agassi Prep (2-3) with four points.

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