Centennial shows off depth, beats Spring Valley for crown
For a girls basketball team as deep as Centennial’s, a different hero can emerge every night.
On Saturday, it was 5-foot, 4-inch junior Melanie Isbell who led the Bulldogs with 20 points, including a back-breaking 3-pointer in the third quarter. She led four double-digit scorers as the Bulldogs cruised to a 75-45 victory over Spring Valley in the Sunset Region title game at Legacy.
It is the eighth consecutive region championship for the Bulldogs, and they will head to Reno next week in search of a fourth straight state championship.
“We build chemistry all year round, we work out, there’s never really an offseason, so it’s a great feeling to have it all finally pay off,” Isbell said.
Seven players scored for the Bulldogs in the second quarter, a frame in which they started to pull away. They outscored Spring Valley 19-10, then in the third they put the game with a nod from the bench.
Daejah Phillips didn’t start for Centennial, but had 10 points in the third quarter as the Bulldogs built their lead to 55-32. It included a 15-0 run for the Bulldogs, including a deep 3-pointer by Isbell with 4:40 left in the quarter that deflated Spring Valley.
“We know that the third quarter is make or break for us,” Isbell said. “It doesn’t really matter what lead we had, we were just prepared to keep our foot on the pedal.”
Centennial’s depth and bench was so strong Justice Ethridge, a UNLV commit and Northwest League MVP, had only nine points. The Bulldogs (27-3) scored 23 bench points.
“Our bench is a major factor in games like this,” said Isbell, also a UNLV pledge. “Our depth is really helpful.”
The biggest issue for Spring Valley (28-3) was trying to overcome the lack of Essence Booker. The UNR commit and Southwest League MVP had three fouls in the first quarter, and only played 31 seconds of the second quarter. She had no points on two shots in the first three quarters, and finished with six points, her lowest total since Dec. 17.
By halftime, Kayla Harris, Alexus Quaadman and Ella Zanders all had three fouls as well, and they all had four when there was 40 seconds remaining in the third.
“I had to sit people tonight, too,” Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. “I was scrambling. My post people were in trouble, too.”
Eboni Walker is one of the top post players in the state, and the Bulldogs lost her for most of the game when she had three fouls in the second quarter. Through three quarters, she had only two points, but finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Phillips finished with 16 points, and teammate Ajanhai Phoumiphat had 11 points for the Bulldogs, who will play Reno in the state semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Lawlor Events Center.
Harris had 11 points to lead the Grizzlies, and Zanders had six points and 10 rebounds.
Sunrise Region
No sense of revenge permeated the mood of the Liberty girls basketball team Saturday.
Instead, the Patriots’ 68-38 victory over Foothill in the Class 4A Sunrise Region championship game at Canyon Springs had Liberty looking forward, not back.
“We left the past in the past,” said Liberty senior forward Dre’una Edwards, who scored a game-high 20 points. “This is the future now. We’re ready to play.”
The Patriots dropped a 55-52 decision to Foothill in the region final last year, but 2018 has been a different story between these teams. Liberty won all four meetings against the Falcons this season.
“This was our fourth time playing them this year,” Liberty coach Chad Kapanui said. “It’s tough to beat a team more than once. It’s hard to get them motivated for it.”
A bit of that lacking motivation may have showed early.
Though Liberty (30-2) led 14-11 after one quarter, a 3-pointer from Kaylee Hall with 7 minutes, 22 seconds left in the second quarter for the Falcons (18-10) produced the second of five ties in the game, at 14-14.
But when Journie Augmon got an offensive rebound and put the ball back in off the glass for Liberty with 3:48 left in the second quarter, it kicked off a 16-2 run to end the first half, staking the Patriots to a 36-22 lead.
Liberty then scored the first four points of the third quarter, and the rout was on.
“Obviously, in the second half we just took over,” Kapanui said.
Liberty employed various pressure defenses to wreak havoc with the Foothill offense, forcing the Falcons into 28 turnovers. That effort and the Patriots’ work on the offensive boards led to a huge discrepancy in shots. Liberty had 76 field-goal attempts compared to 42 for Foothill.
Those efforts turned things around overall on the boards, as well, after the Falcons had started the game by grabbing 12 rebounds to just two for Liberty. The Patriots wound up with a 44-38 edge on the boards.
“He just told all of us to crash,” Edwards said.
Said Kapanui: “We knew they would try to hit the boards hard. That’s how they beat us a year ago.”
Augmon and London Pavlica and former Foothill standout Rae Burrell each added 12 points for Liberty.
Jailyn Johnson scored 11 to pace Foothill.
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Contact Justin Emerson at jeme
