Boys
Spanish Springs pulls away from McQueen late
It wasn’t pretty. But the result will work.
Spanish Springs pulled away from McQueen late at home on Tuesday night to overcome a ho-hum start and escape with a 71-54 victory.
The Cougars improved to 12-4, 7-0 in the 4A North four days after an emotional win at Bishop Manogue. Coach Kyle Penney doesn’t believe his team was potentially suffering from any sort over Miner hangover.
“In sports, you talk about trap games, letdown games … I don’t buy into any of that,” Penney said. “We work too hard. And our kids know. We had a lack of focus. There’s no doubt.”
He attributed the play of senior post Korbin Marcum and guard Bryce DeLong to the Cougs separating from the Lancers (6-7, 3-4) late. Spanish Springs scored 30 of the final 45 points after leading just 41-39 late in the third.
DeLong finished with 15 points. Marcum chipped in 10.
“I think Korbin and Bryce, tonight, they didn’t allow us to lose,” Penney said. “They did a lot of good things.”
Marcus Loadholt scored 18 to lead Spanish Springs and Jalen Townsell poured in 15.
Townsell put a punctuation mark on the win with a rim-shaking put back dunk in the final 30 seconds. His flush accounted for the final points of the night and gave the Cougs their largest lead of the game.
Spanish Springs outscored McQueen 42-24 in the second half despite finishing just 3-of-18 from deep. It need the strong final two quarters after taking a 30-29 deficit to the locker room.
Dalten Smith led the Lancers with 15 points. Tavian Cheaton-Dayton scored 13.
“They (Lancers) have some skill players,” Penney said. “Coach (Keith) Crawford has done a great job with them. They played confident.”
Spanish Springs will look to stay unbeaten in regional play on Friday night, at home, against North Valleys.
Raiders shoot past Panthers
Three different Reed players scored at least 20 points on Tuesday night as the Raiders took care of North Valleys, 85-65, at home.
Reed moved to 4-11, 3-4 in the 4A North. North Valleys sunk to 8-9, 1-6.
Jeremy Ramos finished with 27 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep. Lincoln Turner and Matt Moore both scored 20.
Reed goes to Reno on Friday night.
4A North scoreboard
Spanish Springs 71, McQueen 54
Reed 85, North Valleys 65
Carson 47, Galena 43
Bishop Manogue 76, Douglas 51
Damonte Ranch 62, Wooster 45
Reno 55, Hug 39
Girls
Cougs close strong, remain tied for first
Spanish Springs and McQueen played a tight game for nearly three quarters on Tuesday night. The Cougs and Lancers were tied at 27 with a few minutes left in the third.
Then Spanish Springs asserted itself on its home floor. The Cougs went on a 19-2 run, and scored 23 of the final 29 points, to pull away for an important 50-33 win in both team’s High Desert League opener.
With the 17-point victory, Spanish Springs (12-5, 6-1) remained tied for first place in the HDL. It entered the game tied with McQueen, Reno and Reed atop the standings. The Lancers sunk to 11-6, 5-2.
“It’s a big win. We want to stay right there on top of the standings with Reno and the other teams,” Spanish Springs coach Art Cardenas said. “We kept our composure. We took care of the ball and were much better defensively.”
Cardenas said it was the Cougs’ defense that sparked the game-determining run. Mackenzie O’Connell and Serena Sanchez started the run with transition buckets off turnovers.
“Naelia Pinedo really stepped up, picked up the pressure, couple steals, couple tie ups and really just changed the game,” Cardenas said.
Eight different Cougars contributed in the win. Serena Sanchez and Kierra Johnson led the way with 11 points. Pinedo had eight – all in the second half. And Alysa Domingues finished with seven.
Kaila Spevack led McQueen with nine.
Spanish Springs remains at home on Friday night, playing host to North Valleys.
Reed continues to roll
Reed cruised to 11-2, 6-1 in the 4A North with a comfortable 67-39 home win over North Valleys on Tuesday night.
The Panthers dropped to 7-8, 4-3.
Janae Bluehorse led the way with 16 points in the win. Vanessa Hernandez and Tori Baer both chipped in 11.
Jada Casper led North Valleys with 16 points.
Reed now turns its attention to a pivotal matchup on Friday night at Reno.
4A North scoreboard
Spanish Springs 50, McQueen 33
Reed 67, North Valleys 39
Carson 45, Galena 41
Damonte Ranch 44, Wooster 32
Bishop Manogue 76, Douglas 17
Reno 63, Hug 4
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