Although the Camp Verde High School boys basketball team ultimately fell short at Sedona Red Rock High School, the Cowboys girls had already salvaged a split with their cross-valley rival Thursday, Dec. 17, to garner their first above-.500 record heading into the holiday break.
CVHS head girls coach and athletic director Mark Showers threw a handsy, scrambling press defense back at SRRHS, holding the Scorpions scoreless for the final 3:26 in a 53-45 win.
While head coach Dan Wall’s boys held a seven-point lead entering the fourth quarter, they were outscored 21-9 the rest of the way as the Scorpions re-took the lead for good with five minutes to go.
Girls Basketball
After senior Gabby Ontiveros poured in 21 points, hitting her sixth three-point shot with four minutes to play to give the Cowboys a lead they would never relinquish, Showers was ecstatic for his whole team.
“That was a complete team effort,” Showers said. “I’m extremely proud of every kid. Every kid.”
Junior Nieja Garner added 15 and freshman Katrina Poelstra stepped up with another eight points from the guard positions.
While senior post Dusty Dowdle isn’t projected to be back until the section opener, a Saturday, Jan. 8, rematch at home with the Scorpions, junior Kayla Hackett’s early return from her knee injury gave Showers an unexpected boost.
“She said she was ready to go,” Showers said. “I told her I’d give her a couple of minutes here and there.
Hackett, the first reserve off the bench last season for the Cowboys and a projected starter this season, did not score but contributed key minutes down low to give CVHS as healthy a roster as it’s had all season.
“She looked good,” he said. “We’re pretty excited about how she continues to get better.”
Until Dowdle returns, though, senior Allee Drake continues to be the first scoring option in the post. Six of her eight points against the Scorpions came in the final six minutes, consistently splitting their full-court press for the first time all game.
“We knew we needed to play good defense,” Showers said. “But, on top of that, we knew we had to be able to handle their pressure.”
When CVHS could set up its offense against SRRHS in the first quarter, four three-pointers by Ontiveros kept the Cowboys in the game.
Drake took advantage of a hurt knee sustained by Scorpions starting forward Sophia Perry that kept her out the final 5:45 of the half, scoring her first bucket to tie the game.
Ontiveros’ fifth three with five-and-a-half minutes gave her team its largest lead until the end of the game, 21-16, but the SRRHS press helped close the deficit to one by halftime.
Perry’s return allowed the Scorpions to rally for a lead of as many as seven points in the third quarter.
But it was a Garner three-pointer from the top of the circle that would bring the Cowboys back within one on the first possession of the fourth quarter.
“They all played out of their minds,” Showers said. “I told them, when I was standing in the [postgame] huddle, I was just busting out with pride for these kids.”
Boys Basketball
Senior Javier Perez is used to scoring more than 20 points a night for the Cowboys. “Jarvis,” as he is nicknamed, though, usually saves something special for the Scorpions, averaging more than 33 points per game against them as a junior.
But the best for Perez, 28 points, wasn’t quite good enough Dec. 17 to overcome second and fourth quarters in which the Cowboys scored just 22 points — as many as SRRHS had in the second period alone.
“Our defensive effort in the second quarter was pretty poor,” Wall said. “Giving up 22 is pretty unacceptable.”
A baseline fadeaway floater by forward Jaysen Leonard gave CVHS a 46-39 lead after three quarters.
A lay-in by guard and fellow senior Thomas Herrera, however, was the only Cowboys field goal not scored by Leonard or Perez in the fourth quarter.
“They kind of had their way with us down low,” Scorpions head coach C.J. Sells said. “Javie’s a good post player.
“We knew he was their best player, [but] he wasn’t going to get 55, and it was going to take more than that to beat us. We just needed to make him work, maybe wear him out, tire him out.”
With less than 18 seconds remaining, Perez converted two of three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt by aptly-named SRRHS freshman Chase Saczalski — assigned by Sells to chase Perez wherever he went.
“At some point, you just have to kind of tip your hat and say, ‘He’s a good player, and he made a jump shot,’” Sells said. “So long as you had a hand in his face, then do the best you can [to] defend him.”
The Scorpions hit their final two free throws in a 14-for-15 game from the line to finish off the Cowboys.
“At times throughout the second half, too, our defense played down a little bit,” Wall said. “You score enough to win, but … we gave up a lot of easy layups.”
Wall’s varsity roared out of the locker room both halves, as Perez’s first three-pointer of the game put the Cowboys up, 17-9, at the end of the first quarter.
That eight-point lead would turn out to be the largest for CVHS, though. Leonard had 12 and Herrera and junior Ryan Cain each added six points, but they couldn’t provide enough support for Perez.
“I’m proud of their effort,” Wall said. “They played with a lot of heart. But yeah, we’ve got some stuff to work on.”
For more photos, please see the Wednesday, Dec. 23, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
