Brown, Centennial roll past Palo Verde

Johnna Brown helped the Centennial girls basketball team make a huge statement Friday.

The 6-foot junior poured in 28 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and basically frustrated Palo Verde’s defense in a 70-32 rout of the Panthers.

The Bulldogs (17-3, 6-0 Northwest) protected their division lead and widened the gap over Palo Verde (18-5, 4-2).

“We’ve just really been focusing on what we need to do,” Centennial coach Karen Weitz said. “We really need to come out ready to play. We need to make a statement defensively, as well as offensively.”

Brown, who was 16-for-20 from the free-throw line, drew 12 fouls against Panthers defenders.

She had 13 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, despite resting for almost three minutes.

“Johnna is just a smart basketball player. She really understands the game,” Weitz said. “Johnna doesn’t just play to play. She understands what she’s doing when she’s playing the game.”

Palo Verde made only one of its 12 second-quarter shots and had nine turnovers in the quarter as Centennial pushed the lead to 36-12 by halftime and cruised.

Alexis Byrd scored 15 points for the Bulldogs. Hayley Henderson led Palo Verde with 16 points.

• Valley 41, Canyon Springs 30 — At Valley, Rachael Zimmerman scored 14 points and Vanessa Corona 12 to lead the Vikings.

Amanda Kilgore had 10 points to pace the Pioneers.

• Desert Pines 44, Las Vegas 30 — At Desert Pines, Clarissa Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Jaguars past the Wildcats.

LaBrea Walker added 13 points for Desert Pines.

• Rancho 62, Chaparral 56 — At Rancho, Shayna Porter-Banks had 25 points and Khalia Branch added 20 points, 10 rebounds and five steals for the Rams.

Chaparral’s Desiree Pierce had 18 points.

• Silverado 44, Coronado 33 — At Coronado, Shea Collins scored 14 points to help the Skyhawks beat the Cougars.

Danielle Boyle scored 10 points to lead Coronado.

• Durango 63, Bonanza 57 — At Durango, Lindy La Rocque scored a game-high 33 points, helping the Trailblazers overcome a 30-19 halftime deficit to win.

Durango outscored the Bengals 27-14 in the third quarter.

Christin Figgins had 15 points for the Bengals.

• Bishop Gorman 91, Clark 28 — At Clark, Aaryn Ellenberg scored 26 points for the Gaels, who cruised to victory after opening a 28-0 lead through one quarter.

Gorman’s Dannielle Diamant added 14 points.

Clark’s Joanne Umana had 14 points.

• Western 71, Spring Valley 42 — At Western, Derricka Glover scored 20 points and Destiny Whitehead 19 to carry the Warriors past the Grizzlies.

Teaira Newman led Spring Valley with 18 points.

• Green Valley 46, Tech 42 — At Green Valley, Victoria Naylor scored 29 points to lead the Gators to victory.

• Faith Lutheran 53, Boulder City 12 — At Faith Lutheran, Alex Treadwell scored 10 points, and the Crusaders held the Eagles to five points or fewer in each quarter.

• White Pine 53, The Meadows 10 — At The Meadows, the Bobcats led 18-0 after one quarter and never looked back.

• Beatty 57, Indian Springs 42 — At Indian Springs, Tina Traster’s double-double was not enough for the Thunderbirds.

Traster had 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead Indian Springs.