Bishop Gorman fends off fiesty Sierra Vista

By Brent Hinckley

Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Bishop Gorman senior guard Kylel Coleman's thunderous reverse dunk with 48 seconds left in the game slammed the door shut on Sierra Vista's shot at stealing a win in Gorman's House of Glory and claiming a share of first place in the Southwest Division.

"We were up two, so once I did that we was up four. It was a pretty big statement. It took all the energy away," Coleman said.

The Gaels held on to defeat the visiting Mountain Lions 74-70 on Wednesday night.

Sierra Vista had rallied from a 64-56 deficit in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 66 apiece with 1:26 left in the game.

Hoping to avoid a second overtime game with Sierra Vista – the Mountain Lions won the previous meeting on Jan. 9, 86-82 in overtime - Coleman came through in the clutch.

"We have a young team, so it was good for us. I like that," Coleman said. "so they know how tight game situations are so they don't get shaky or rattled."

He knocked down a pair of free throws as Gorman retook the lead with 1:11 to play and on Sierra Vista's ensuing possession he made the steal and broke down the floor to throw down his fourth dunk of the night. He finished with 19 points, but it was freshman forward Shabazz Muhammed who had a game high 22 points to lead the Gaels.

Senior guard Akeem Smith led the Lions with 17 points, with sophomore forward Dallin Molina adding 14 and senior guard Ray Tapusoa 10.

Sierra Vista (22-6, 10-3) was trying to move into a first place tie with the Gaels (20-4, 12-1).

"We were really hoping to come in, and we thought we picked up enough stuff in the last game that we had done wrong that we can fix, and really give it a run," Mountain Lions coach Kent Johnson said.

Tapusoa, the Lions' leading scorer, fouled out of the game with 7:27 left and his team trailing 55-53, when he picked up a fourth personal foul and then a technical foul.

"All year long Ray has been a guy we rely on to generate offense to settle things down. We put the ball in his hands a lot, and it's up to him to take control. He thought he had a clean steal and lashed out and gave the ball a pound and can't do that," Johnson said.

The Gaels used the momentum to extend their lead to 64-56, but Sierra Vista wasn't done despite the loss of their leader.

"We had the ball on a break, and we made a bad decision," Rice said. "We should have gone up 10, but we turned it over. We got a charge call, which was the right call at that time. Basketball's a game where momentum changes just like that. If we go up 10 maybe we pull away."

The Lions would tie the game, but that's when Coleman took control for Gorman.

Sierra Vista led 20-16 after the first quarter and extended their lead to 27-20 in the second quarter with a little under six minutes to go in the half. However, the Gaels went on a 14-4 run to close out the quarter and lead by three at half. Gorman would not trail again.

"Their bigs hurt us on the boards. Their guards hurt us in the open court. We hurt ourselves with some mental errors and a team this good you can't make those errors and still hope to win," Johnson said.

Both teams have three division games left, before the Sunset Region tournament, which begins on Feb. 17.

Brent Hinckley can be reached at 990-7822 or [email protected].