By Sam Ganczaruk

For West Valley Preps

Cactus remained patient Tuesday and eventually its larger backcourt earned a place in the quarterfinals of the girls 4A State Tournament.

The No. 7-seeded Cobras overpowered visiting No. 10 Tucson Salpointe Catholic with a fourth quarter flurry to earn a convincing 51-36 victory.

Cactus (21-5) will travel to Tucson on Friday and face No. 2 Pueblo Magnet (28-2). Pueblo routed No. 15 Nogales 59-29 in the opening round.

Cactus had a size advantage over the smaller but quick Salpointe (19-9) and forwards Olivia Lee and Atlantis Jiles pounded the boards. Lee finished with a game-high 14 points with plenty coming off of offensive rebounds.

“Everybody boxed out really well tonight,” Lee said. “We were the better offensive rebounding team.”

Salpointe never found a answer for the sophomore.

“Our forwards that we had on (Lee) were spending so much energy denying and pushing her that by the time she was able to get the ball on offensive rebounds they gave everything they had,” Salpointe coach Justin Curran said. “She takes up a lot of space and that’s tough to defend.”

The visitors led briefly in the third quarter, 31-30, but Cactus poured it on from there. The Cobras outscored the Lancers 21-5, including a 12-0 run early in the fourth quarter.

Cactus guard Myla Lee, left, drives to the basket past the defense of Salpointe Catholic's Bri Arizmendi during the first half of their 4A state playoff game on Tuesday. [Ralph Freso/For West Valley Preps][/caption]For the students, it was a bit of redemption after the Lancers eliminated the Cobras from the football and volleyball playoffs this fall.

“The tricky part is that we knew had an advantage on the offensive glass too so we had to make sure that we did both - can’t just go crash and leave them deep but you also just can’t run back and then we don’t get our advantage,” Cactus coach Justin Shaver said. “We did a good job in the second half. Our bigs crashed the boards and our guards got back and didn’t allow a lot of easy buckets.”

Jiles protected the paint with her shot blocking ability while also adding nine points.

“She is a terror in the paint for other teams and that allows our guards to play more pressure because they know if they get beat she’s back there to help them out which allows us to do a lot defensively,” Shaver said.

Sophomore Myla Lee led the Cobras front court with stingy defense and accurate jump shooting with nine points.

Cactus reached the quarterfinals last season before falling to Flagstaff but Shaver hopes the Cobras reach the semifinals this time around.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Salpointe 9 14 8 5 - 36

Cactus 15 11 11 14 - 51

BOX SCORE

Salpointe - Bri Arizmendi 9, Daniela Bernal 6, Kam Powell 4, Jaya Nelson 4, Mae Callahan 4, Jenna Soulvie 4, Diana Montano 3, Iasia Ratliffe 2.

Cactus - Olivia Lee 14, Atlantis Jiles 9, Myla Lee 9, Malena McDonald 7, Jahleza Clark 4, Janine Nelson 4, Eden Brosseau 2, Madisyn Tomlin 2.

Cactus forward Atlantis Jiles grabs a rebound away from Salpointe Catholic's Jenna Soulvie, left, and Diana Montano during the first half of their girl's 4A state playoff basketball game on Tuesday. [Ralph Freso/For West Valley Preps][/caption]