Girls: Skyhawks still dominate Cats

Wednesday evening at Silverado, the most-improved girls team in the Sunrise Division took on the most-dominating. And the eventual outcome was all too familiar for fans of Las Vegas High.

Keyed by the inside play of sophomore Jayme Conners and the clutch shooting of senior Stormy Hanson, Silverado defeated Las Vegas 51-49 in front of a small but spirited crowd to remain undefeated in Sunrise Division play.

It was the Skyhawks' eighth-consecutive win in the division and seventh in a row against the Wildcats. Silverado, ranked fifth in the latest Las Vegas Sun poll, improved to 15-5 overall (8-0 Sunrise). Ninth-ranked Las Vegas fell to 11-5 (5-2 Sunrise), two games behind the frontrunning Skyhawks.

With both teams struggling from the floor and the game tied at 49, Hanson drilled a jumpshot from the wing with 20 seconds remaining that turned out to be the game winner. Las Vegas had a chance to tie the game late, but Jasmere Kirby dribbled the ball off her foot as she tried to advance it across mid-court.

"Coach (Hernandez) had been telling me to shoot the ball all night," said Hanson, in reference to her game-winning shot.

Hanson had the game's most-important bucket, but only finished with eight points. As usual, it was Conners who carried the Skyhawks.

The 6-0 center finished with a game-high 22 points, including nine in the pivotal fourth quarter. Her back-to-back layups with just over six minutes remaining in the game trimmed a five-point Las Vegas lead to one.

"I just hung in there and tried to have some fun," said Conners, who was held to eight points in the first half by a collapsing 2-3 zone. "Coach switched the offense a little at half and I got a few more open shots. I just kept working hard."

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Conners' performance was that it came against 6-1 Lillie Williams. The Wildcats' dominating senior center finished with 17 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, but was kept in check in the second half by Conners and company.

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