Bengals jump out to a surprising start

Bonanza High School's boys basketball team didn't even make the playoffs last season, but it started this year with six straight wins and, at press time, was 8-1 and the top-ranked team in Southern Nevada, according to a poll in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"We have senior leadership this year and we have a point guard," third-year Bengals head coach Doug Couch said. "We're 100 times better than last year. Last year, we had to make some short-term sacrifices for long-term goals, but our goal this year is to make the playoffs.

"We want to go to state, but there's only one team coming from our side, which is sad, and we have the strongest side. Right now, it's pretty even. I don't think anyone has the upper hand in town. Anybody can beat anybody. It's going to be competitive. There are a lot of good players."

Several players have contributed for Bonanza, which went 2-8 to finish fifth in the Southwest Division last season. The Bengals, who struggled to a 9-15 mark overall, return senior starters Nigel Moore, Brett Jaekle and Ernie Domanico.

Moore, 6-foot-4, averaged 10.6 points and 14 rebounds per game last season and is averaging 16.3 points, 11 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game this year.

"He's a hustler and he's always inside crashing the boards and he's a left-hander," Couch said. "He's not real tall, so he's able to sneak under the big guys and get rebounds. He's played dynamite. He's an explosive player, plus he's on a stronger front line this year. His rebounds have gone down a little, because more guys are helping out."

Jaekle is 6-5, but he's a good outside shooter and draws opposing big guys away from the hoop, the coach said. He's also a good passer and actually leads the team with three assists per game.

"Since we don't have a real big guy on the team, we're able to bring the other team's center out a lot, and Brett can shoot so we're able to post him up at the high post," Couch said.

Domanico, in his third year on the varsity squad, dropped 30 points on Palo Verde earlier this season and is averaging 14.4 points per game, a bit below last year's average of 15.8. But he's still making the transition from tennis season.

"He's just a real smart kid. We might not have the most physical kids, but we have pretty intelligent kids with lots of varsity experience," Couch said. "He's a sneaker. He's a thief in the night. He can back-door people. He cuts real well. Right now, his outside shots are not falling, but he's still shaking the rust off from tennis. Once he gets back in the groove, he'll pick it up a little bit.

"We're not getting a lot from the outside from our whole team. We're still warming up because our best outside shooters are tennis players."

Cory Peterson, a 6-foot junior, is the team's other top outside shooter and sixth man.

"He's very quick. He doesn't physically look it, but he's very quick on his first step, and he's one of our better shooters," Couch said.

Bonanza has also gotten big contributions from Roemon Turner and Cornel Johnson.

Turner, a senior transfer from Western, has made a huge difference at point guard.

"He creates and he gives us a guard who can get the ball up the floor," Couch said. "Last year, we were good until teams figured out we couldn't handle the press, but with Roe running the show, teams can't press us. He gets the ball up the court."

Johnson, a 6-4 senior, sat out last season but has come back strong, averaging 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game, not to mention adding some more scoring punch.

"He causes matchup problems for any team we play. He's only 6-4, but his arms are the same as a 7-footer," Couch said.

Bonanza, which has defeated strong Palo Verde and Mojave squads and suffered its lone loss to defending state champion Cheyenne, also features 6-3 senior Cochise Porter; George White, a 6-1 senior transfer from Western; Aarron Westmoreland, a 6-5 junior; junior Jared Glover and freshman Jonathan Atkins.


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