Rancho boys top Las Vegas, set up showdown with Canyon Springs
Ronald Childress had won 43 games in three-plus seasons as Rancho’s boys basketball coach before Thursday.
But Childress said the Rams’ latest victory was the biggest of them all.
Justin Holiday finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, and host Rancho held off hard-charging Las Vegas 63-57 to remain in second place in the Northeast League.
Chrys Jackson scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half for the Rams (12-13, 5-1 Northeast), who visit Canyon Springs on Monday with the league title on the line. Rancho’s last league title was in 2003.
“We came together at the right time,” Childress said. “Vegas is a good team, and our team wanted it. I think it was probably our best game of the season. Right when we needed it, we got it.”
Rancho led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter before Las Vegas (13-10, 4-3) stormed back behind Donovan Joyner and Zach Matlock. Matlock’s putback basket cut the Wildcats’ deficit to 57-54 with 2:25 to play, but Las Vegas went scoreless for the next two minutes.
After a timeout, Jackson drove the lane and scored, and Holiday finished a fast break to put Rancho on top 61-54 with 45 seconds to go.
“All season long, we’ve been trying to win games offensively,” Childress said. “Some nights you shoot well, some nights you don’t. You’ve got to rely on your defense. This was probably one of our better defensive efforts until the end.”
Joyner had 24 points, and Matlock added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Las Vegas, which shot 6-for-26 from the field in the first half and trailed 39-22 at halftime.
Trayvon Cotton-Taylor contributed 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Rams and had key back-to-back baskets midway through the fourth quarter to put Rancho up 57-50.
“What is it, Rodney Dangerfield? We don’t get no respect,” Childress said. “A lot of these teams around here, they’ve had their chances of going to state, going to regional finals. It’s just our turn to do that. But we can’t just talk about it. We’ve got to go out and show people we belong.”
Contact reporter David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.
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