PREP CHAMPIONSHIPS: Washington takes charge late, leads Western to OT win

Kentrell Washington is far from being the most experienced player on Western’s boys basketball roster.

But on a team with no returning lettermen, the sophomore swingman is quickly emerging as a go-to player for the Warriors.

Washington scored 17 of his game-high 29 points after the third quarter Tuesday to lift Western to a 65-61 overtime win over Woodbridge (Calif.) in a Gold Bracket semifinal of the Las Vegas Prep Championship at Las Vegas High.

“He does a heck of a job for us,” Western coach Chip Nelson said. “In situations where we need someone to score, we know that we can look to him to put the ball in.”

That was the case Tuesday, when Washington shot 4-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final four seconds of overtime to give the Warriors the victory. Four of the foul shots were the result of two technical fouls called on Woodbridge.

“I had to make those free throws so we could go to the championship,” said Washington, who also had six rebounds. “It’s kind of hard, but I just focused.”

Western (7-2) advanced to the Gold title game.

Washington’s layup gave the Warriors a 55-53 lead in the final minute of regulation before Woodbridge’s Ryan Garvin hit a jumper from the top of the key with less than 35 seconds left to force overtime.

Albert Miller added 13 points for Western, which reached the semifinals with a 66-63 win over Palos Verdes (Calif.) earlier Tuesday.

Nelson was pleased with how Western responded to its first overtime period of the season.

“It’s significant because now we really understand what it’s like to play in an overtime situation and really get that under our belts before we play our (league) season,” he said.
 

Western 66, Palos Verdes (Calif.) 63 — Kentrell Washington led five double-figure scorers with 13 points as the Warriors held on to edge the Sea Kings.

Sir Washington added 12 points for Western, which was outscored 26-14 in the fourth quarter.

Miller, Aaron Buckley and Joseph Gerideau chipped in 11 points apiece for the Warriors.

Cheyenne 71, Coronado 56 — Jaylen Henry scored 18 points as the Desert Shields routed the Cougars.

Ervin Leu added 15 points and J’Quon Wroten had 14 for Cheyenne, which led 18-8 after the first quarter.

Austin Nelson paced Coronado with 17 points. Kyle Johnson added 14 points and Adam Schmitt scored 10.

Rancho 59, Legacy 53 — Tyler Gaston had 19 points and 20 rebounds to lead the Rams past the Longhorns.

Fabian Dominguez contributed 17 points and 11 rebounds for Rancho.

Cuiren Subira hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to highlight a 21-11 third-quarter run that Rancho used to build a 48-33 lead midway through the fourth.

Sian Laine scored 15 points and Brandon Galindo had 11 for Legacy.

Pleasure Ridge (Ky.) 57, Rancho 47 — The Rams fell in the Platinum Bracket semifinal despite 10 points and 16 rebounds from Gaston.

Amir Royal added 13 points for Rancho.

Serra (Calif.) 66, Cheyenne 51 — Chris McCall’s 3-pointer from the wing pulled Cheyenne to within 56-46 midway through the fourth quarter, but it was as close as the Desert Shields would get in a Platinum Bracket semifinal.

McCall scored 19 points and Wroten had 10 for Cheyenne, which was unable to climb out of an early 22-9 deficit.

Metairie Park (La.) 74, Arbor View 73 (OT) — Matt Derenbecker’s driving layup in the final 10 seconds of overtime lifted the Cajuns past the Aggies.

Derenbecker poured in 38 points for Metairie Park.

Maiscei Grier scored 31 points — including a pair of free throws that put Arbor View ahead 73-72 with 13.2 seconds remaining — to lead the Aggies.

Darington Banks had 16 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals for Arbor View.

Pleasure Ridge (Ky.) 64, Las Vegas 60 — Hasaan Henderson scored 20 points to lead the Wildcats, whose fourth-quarter rally fell short.

George Sanico added 16 points for Las Vegas.

 

Chaparral isn’t located in downtown Las Vegas.

 

But the Cowboys may want to think about relocating after senior Chris Goodloe drained six 3-pointers to lead his team into the championship game of the Bronze Bracket of the Las Vegas Prep Championship with a 69-64 overtime win against Bell Gardens (Calif.) on Tuesday.

“I just hustled, up and down the court, looking for the open shots, looking for players open, and jumping into the middle,” Goodloe said. “I just tried to hit my shots when I was open.”

Chaparral will play Clark at 9 a.m. Wednesday at Las Vegas High to start the bracket title games.

Goodloe had 33 points and six rebounds for the Cowboys, who held the Lancers to seven points in overtime in the win.

“He definitely showed up today,” Chaparral coach Ennis Wesley said of Goodloe. “When we had one drop somewhere, it’s nice to see another guy pick up the slack. We definitely could use those threes today; it kept us in the game.

“That’s what you ask the guys to do: when one guy doesn’t show, you ask another guy to show. So that was a good thing by him.”

BreOnta Griffin scored four of his nine points in the extra period to help the Cowboys pull away. Zachary Kirschbaum also had nine points.

The teams combined for 16 3-pointers, as Bell Gardens threw in six from downtown in the second half.

Enrique Escobela led the Lancers with 20 points.

Chaparral 84, Spring Creek 52 — The Cowboys had five players score in double figures to cruise past Spring Creek.

Kamleon Alexander paced Chaparral with 14 points, while Andre Wright and Goodloe added 13 apiece, and Kevin Morgan and Jermaine Neal each tallied 12 points.

Clark 65, Las Vegas JV 54 — Alejandro Rangel scored 16 points and Steven Dancy had 12 points as Clark downed the Wildcats’ junior varsity.

Green Valley 65, Valley JV 38 — The Gators held Valley’s junior varsity squad to single-digit scoring in the second and fourth quarters in a rout.

Green Valley’s Austin Tebbs led all scorers with 12 points. Durrell McDonald added 10 points for the Gators, who outscored the Vikings 20-7 in the second quarter.

Clark 75, Green Valley 59 — Dancy poured in 37 points as the Chargers sprinted past the Gators to advance to the championship game of the Bronze Bracket.

Rangel added 14 points for Clark.

McDonald scored 25 points to lead Green Valley, which held the Chargers to eight fourth-quarter points but couldn’t make up the difference.

Liberty 45, Valley 39 — Ashante Ross tallied eight of his 10 points in the fourth quarter as the Patriots overcame a slow start to advance past the Vikings and into the championship game of the Silver Bracket.

Aaron Navitsky led Liberty with 12 points.

Khristian Kirkwood had 15 points for Valley, which led 8-7 after the first quarter.

Mission Prep (Calif.) 52, Durango 48 — Donovan Williams scored 15 points for Durango, but the Trailblazers fell to the Royals in the semifinals of the Silver Bracket.

 

Tre’Von Wells added 11 points for Durango, which was held to nine points in the first quarter.

Valley 51, Carson 45 — The Vikings started the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run to pull away from Carson for the win.

 

O’Neil Brauthigam led Valley with 13 points.

Liberty 65, Santee (Calif.) 50 — Ross had 24 points as the Patriots cruised past Santee in their first game of the day.

Tim Rambo added 13 points for Liberty, which outscored Santee 41-30 in the second half.

Durango 66, Roosevelt (Calif.) 58 — The Trailblazers stormed past Roosevelt in the opening game of the Silver Bracket at Valley.

Wells led Durango with 17 points, and Stefan Colovic added 13 for the Trailblazers.