Lady Eagles regroup to win first league game

The Boulder City girls basketball team started its Sunrise League schedule Monday with a convincing 46-29 victory at Del Sol.

It didn’t appear that way for the first half, though, as the Lady Eagles struggled and trailed 17-13 at intermission.

“We had a rough go there in the opening week, but we bounced back to win our first league game and regain some momentum,” head coach Paul Dosch said. “It was important to win the first league game. We have a very competitive league this season.

“Our goals remain high, to win the league and the region and get back to the state tournament. We didn’t play well in the first half, but we amped up our defense in the second half and it triggered our offense.”

Boulder City improved to 5-3 overall. The Lady Eagles play at 5 p.m. Friday night at home against Sunrise Mountain in a game that had been originally scheduled to be played on the road. On Monday, Sunrise contacted Boulder City officials and told them their gym could not be played in because of water damage.

They also played a game at Southeastern Career Technical Academy Wednesday but it was too late to print the results in this issue.

“I’ve been telling the girls all along that if they play hard on defense at every position on every possession good things will happen,” Dosch said. “In the fourth quarter against Del Sol we finally got our defense going and it transitioned into some good touches and easy baskets.”

The Lady Eagles’ defense limited Del Sol to 12 second-half points. The offense was led by forward Megan Morton, who scored 18 points. Guard Alyssa Ybarra played while nursing the twisted left knee she suffer a week ago. She scored 9 points.

“Getting our first league win is very important because it lets the rest of the league know we mean business again,” said guard Katlyn Daly, who scored 10 points. “It starts us out in the right direction and we build momentum from here.”

Girls Flag Football

There was no change atop the Southern Nevada flag football coaches poll this week, Dec. 13. Boulder City remained No. 2 in the county behind Cimarron-Memorial.

The Lady Eagles extended their regular season winning streak to 22 games over two seasons with their 30-0 victory against visiting Southeastern Career Technical Academy Dec. 11.

Quarterback Jeanne Carmell passed for two touchdowns and ran for three others. Carmell was 22 of 32 passing for 283 yards. She also had 104 yards rushing on seven carries. Kinsey Smyth had eight catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns. Linebacker Oshanna Remy made five tackles.

Boys Basketball

The Boulder City boys basketball team did not start its Sunrise League schedule Monday the way coach John Balistere had hoped.

The Eagles struggled offensively to score points and saw their strongest ally, their defense, become unproductive as they were beaten at Del Sol 59-33 by the Dragons.

“We are having trouble scoring points right now and so we count even more on our defense to keep us in games and spark our offense in transition, but right now that isn’t happening,” Balistere said. “When we really struggle to score like we did against Del Sol, we need our defense more than ever.

“I was disappointed in our effort overall and we have to get better fast because our league is very competitive and we need to win as many as we can.”

The Eagles are at home at 6:30 Friday night against Sunrise Mountain. The game was originally scheduled to be played at Sunrise Mountain but a leak in the gym roof has caused a problem with their court flooring.

The Eagles opened at home Wednesday with a game against Tech that was too late to get the results in this issue.

The Eagles started with a 4-2 out-of-league record and were showing promise to be able to contend for one of the four playoff spots from the Sunrise League, but Monday saw the opposite. The Eagles are now 4-3 overall and 0-1 in the league.

“We didn’t play well against Del Sol, but it was the opener and we have time to work harder and improve,” Balistere said.

The Dragons jumped out to a 13-4 lead after the first quarter, extended it to 20-9, and later 26-11 at halftime.

Guard Tyler Newby led Boulder City with 14 points.

Del Sol’s Noah Spearman scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Dragons, who extended their lead to 39-18 by the end of the third quarter. They made it a 26-point lead at 44-18 early in the fourth quarter before an Eagles’ rally, led by 3-point baskets by Trenton Carmell and Austin Newby, closed the deficit.