Bishop Gorman (Nev.) pulls away from Shadow Mountain (Ariz.) in quarterfinals
Bishop Gorman (Nev.) didn’t have any trouble in its first round game in the Beach Ball Classic, so Monday’s quarterfinal was a change of pace for the Gaels.
Shadow Mountain (Ariz.) stuck around for a while, but Bishop Gorman turned a close game into a clinic in the second half.
The Gaels led by just seven points at halftime but pulled away in the second half with the help of 7-foot senior Stephen Zimmerman as Bishop Gorman beat the Matadors 78-60 to reach the semifinals.
“I think we just played hard in the second half. They outrebounded us in the first half which with our size that shouldn’t happen,” said Gaels coach Grant Rice, whose team was outrebounded 21-18 in the first half. “We started playing hard, started getting some loose balls that weren’t going our way in the first half and turned them into transition. Shadow Mountain played great; I know they’re down a couple of guys but they’re a really good team.”
Having one of the top frontcourts in the country with big men Zimmerman and Chase Jeter, the Gaels had an obvious size advantage and it showed as they outrebounded Shadow Mountain 43-34 and outscored them 42-18 inside the paint to show why Bishop Gorman is one of the top programs in the nation.
Zimmerman finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, three assists and three steals. Jeter, a 6-foot-11 senior, scored 15 and Richie Thornton added 10 for Bishop Gorman.
“We always have two bigs on the floor and try to play some with all three,” Rice said. “At half we talked about getting on the boards and we ended up winning the rebound battle.”
Shadow Mountain coach Mike Bibby said the size advantage the Gaels had was certainly noticeable.
“They have big kids. We did a good job up to a point; we played good in spurts,” Bibby said. “When you play teams like that you have to play a good game all the way through and we didn’t.”
The teams battled back and forth to start the game. After a JJ Rhymes free throw cut the Matadors’ deficit to 14-11 midway through the first half, the Gaels went on a 14-3 run to take control. Shadow Mountain rallied before Thornton connected on a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Bishop Gorman ahead 40-33 at halftime.
“I think they did a good job in the first half,” Bibby said. “We were kind of satisfied with how we did in the first half. The hustle was gone, we weren’t getting offensive rebounds and getting back on defense and it started to wear us down.”
Craig Randall paced Shadow Mountain with 25 points and Rhymes scored 13.
“[Randall] played good,” Bibby said. “He was aggressive and he was most of our scoring besides JJ. But he did a good job and that’s what he works to do.”
The Matadors will take on Knott County Central (Ky.) on Monday at 1:45 p.m. in a consolation game.
“We’ve got to play. When you come out to play you’ve got to leave everything out on the court,” Bibby said.
Meanwhile, the Gaels will play Sagemont (Fla.), which is a defending Florida state champion, in the semifinals on Monday at 8:45 p.m.
“They were undefeated, going 33-0 last year and we do a lot of the same things,” Rice said of Sagemont. “They play a lot of 2-3 zone and a lot of 2-2-1 press. We have similar styles so it’s going to be a good game.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2014 at 11:17 PM with the headline "Bishop Gorman (Nev.) pulls away from Shadow Mountain (Ariz.) in quarterfinals."