It wasn't a work of art, but Shadow Hills pulls out boys' basketball road win at La Quinta
Despite having several veteran pieces back in the fold, the Shadow Hills boys' basketball team is still a work in progress.
A new coach, implementing a new system and with some new players in the mix, the Knights still feel like they need to find that five-man cohesiveness and trust on the court.
The good thing is for them, they keep winning while they find it. The Knights outdueled a feisty La Quinta squad for an unattractive, but valuable 58-48 road victory on Tuesday night to move to 2-0 in the Desert Empire League and 7-1 overall.
"We just need to trust each other out there, can't be a one-man ship. All five, especially on offense, we have to click," senior Cord Stansberry said. "On defense we are clicking, but you can be successful on defense, but you've got to be clicking on offense, too, and building that trust is what we're working on."
Stansberry, whose outside shots weren't falling on this night, still racked up 21 points, including a pair of dunks that had the traveling Knights' fans roaring. Cyprus Graham added 13 points and Chris Carter had 12. Carter, one of the most athletic leapers the desert has seen in recent memory, got free on a breakaway and tried an acrobatic windmill dunk, but he back-rimmed it much to the dismay of the crowd which was hoping to see him add to his highlight reel.
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The win was an important one for the Knights, who now match up against rival Palm Springs at home on Thursday. And there may have been a little bit of a lookahead in this one, and the Blackhawks almost made the Knights pay for it.
Shadow Hills opened a 19-9 lead after one quarter, but a late surge by the Blackhawks, punctuated with a Malachi Murrell breakaway slam cut the Shadow Hills lead to 27-22 at the half. La Quinta clamped down on defense, holding the Knights to just eight second-quarter points.
"We're still trying to figure each other out, that's what it comes down to," said coach Cory Cornelius in his first year as the Knights head coach. "We're trying to find our offensive identity a little bit, and you know with me being a new coach and coming in a little late we didn't have a full summer together, so still work to do."
The Knights scored the first six points of the third quarter to reopen the lead to 11 and stayed in that 9- to 13-point range the rest of the night. Graham had a particularly strong third quarter with 11 of his 13 points after halftime.
Murrell had a game-high 22 points for the Blackhawks, and he was backed by 12 from Hayden McKee.
The Desert Sun says
What Tuesday night's game lacked in finesse and artistry, it made up for in effort and floor burns. La Quinta plays hard from the opening tip until the final buzzer, but they need to get more offense out of the other players behind Murrell and McKee. Those two can certainly be workhorses for the Blackhawks offensively, but when they are clamped down on, guys like Tommy Ansley, Calvin Miller and Saul Mireles need to be able to finish around the rim or make open 3-pointers on a more consistent basis. The effort is there, the points need to follow. Shoutout to Mireles, who played a particularly gutsy game, running the point, and facing extreme pressure while getting banged up and bruised throughout the game.
Shadow Hills is right. They aren't quite clicking on offense right now, and with Stansberry, Carter and Graham the points should come easier. Some credit certainly goes to La Quinta coach Caleb Gervin, who made adjustments throughout the game that kept the Knights off balance. Sometimes when you have athletic players who get their own shot at almost any time, it's hard to be patient and wait for an even better shot. That will come with more gym time together and as they get more comfortable with Cornelius' offensive system. I liked what I saw out of Brett Nerad, a 6-foot-5 junior, who can finish around the rim when the defensive attention is being paid to the "big three." Expect him to be a useful contributor moving forward.
What's next
The Blackhawks, 1-5 overall and 0-2 in Desert Valley League play, play at Palm Desert on Thursday.
Shadow Hills, meanwhile, will face Palm Spring — also 2-0 in league play after beating Rancho Mirage on Tuesday on Thursday at Shadow Hills. The Knights and Indians have developed a serious rivalry these last three years, playing some instant classics. Stansberry is expecting another fun clash on Thursday.
"This game is behind us, and now we can look at the next one," Stansberry said. "Palm Springs always plays hard, they are a well-coached team. When our two teams get together, it's always exciting. So should be a good one."
Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Shadow Hills pulls out boys' basketball road win at La Quinta
