FOOTHILL HOLIDAY CLASSIC: Fast start fuels Centennial boys’ victory

Centennial boys basketball coach Todd Allen wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort when the Bulldogs played Shadow Ridge on Dec. 17.

He was more than happy with the way his squad played Friday.

Centennial opened with a 21-6 run and rolled to a 79-57 win over the Mustangs in the semifinals of the White Division of the Foothill Holiday Classic.

“We played them a few weeks ago, and we came out really sluggish,” Allen said. “We talked about coming out with good energy today and playing good defense.”

The Bulldogs controlled the glass, outrebounding Shadow Ridge 22-14 in the first half and 42-25 in the game.

“We’ve been playing good defense and rebounding, and that’s been our mainstay, and they did a real good job of that,” Allen said. “We kind of got up on them early, and that helped us out.”

Centennial didn’t press much but showed an effective 2-2-1 look in the first half. The Bulldogs forced eight first-half turnovers, turning them into eight points.

Allen said the team was looking to work on the press to prepare for league play.

“Fortunately it worked out for us today where we were able to get some turnovers and some momentum,” Allen said. “We’re so long, if we can use our length better, we might be able to create some turnovers. Today, it worked out for us.”

Troy Brown, a 6-foot-5-inch freshman guard, keyed the attack, using his length to get into the passing lanes and notch four steals. Brown finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots despite spending the final 10 minutes on the bench after Allen turned to his reserves.

“Troy’s been doing a lot of stuff for us,” Allen said. “I’m really impressed with his rebounding. That’s probably like his fifth or sixth double-double of the season for a freshman, (which is) kind of unheard of. He’s finding the ball, which we need him to do, and I think it’s rubbing off on everybody else.”

Khalil Thompson had 15 points, five rebounds, six assists and three steals for Centennial, which plays Valhalla (Calif.) in the White final at 5 p.m. today at Foothill.

“It’s all good,” Allen said of advancing to the division championship. “Basketball is basketball. We just want to keep playing and get these kids some minutes so we can get ready for when it counts.”

Garrett Scheer had 10 points, four rebounds and four assists for the Bulldogs.

Serph Decker had 17 points to lead Shadow Ridge. Cameron Berube scored 13 and Preston Echols 12 for the Mustangs.

Valhalla 61, Bonanza 60 — Jacob Hammett had 23 points to lead the Norsemen past the Bengals in the other White semifinal.

Hammett had 13 points in the second half, including all three of his 3-pointers.

Jamal Logan hit four 3-pointers and scored 27 points for Bonanza.

DeAndre Hicks added 12 points, and Davonta Price scored 10 for the Bengals.

Foothill 64, Las Vegas 55 — Jalen Shepard had 18 points, four rebounds and seven assists to lead the Falcons over the Wildcats in a Gold Division semifinal.

Shepard was 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 1:06 to seal the victory.

Vincent Modugno came off the bench to add 14 points — all in the first half — for Foothill. His four-point play with 8:51 to go in the first half broke a 10-10 tie, and the Falcons never trailed again.

Modugno added four rebounds and three assists, and Torrance Littles had nine rebounds and two blocked shots for the Falcons.

Foothill plays Faith Baptist Christian Academy (Ga.) in the final at 6:20 p.m. Saturday.

Patrick Savoy led Las Vegas with 18 points. Devon Colley added 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Re’Kwon Smith scored 14 for the Wildcats.

CONSOLATION GAMES

Desert Pines 70, Liberty 51 — Nate Grimes scored 16 points to help the Jaguars beat the Patriots.

Timothy Jeffries added 12 points for Desert Pines.

Elijah Graves led Liberty with 22 points.

Canyon Springs 91, Palo Verde 78 — Jordan Davis scored 26 points, and the Patriots outlasted the Panthers.

Darrell McCall had 16 of his 22 points in the first half for Canyon Springs, which led 46-32 at the break.

Shaquile Carr scored 14 points, and Chris Nelson and Gerad Davis each had 13 points for the Pioneers.

Travis Gondrezick had 21 points to lead Palo Verde, which got 16 points from Ja Morgan and 13 points from Tyler Hack.

Valley 67, Faith Lutheran 30 — Spencer Mathis had 14 points, and the Vikings rolled over the Crusaders.

Cameron Burton added 12 points, and Gerard Harden scored 12 for Valley, which led 44-13 at the half.

Blake Bell had eight points for Faith Lutheran.

Eldorado 72, Trinity 66 — D’Quan Crockett scored six of his 15 points in overtime to give the Sundevils the victory over the Thunder.

Jayveon Brown scored 29 points to lead Eldorado, which trailed 31-24 at the half.

NFL Yet Academy (Ariz.) 64, Silverado 59 — Guy Brown hit six 3-pointers and scored 30 points to lead NFL Yet over the Skyhawks.

Damien Buchan added 18 points for NFL Yet.

Joe Baldi paced Silverado with 19 points, and teammate Isaiah Glover scored 13.

Spring Valley 65, Montgomery (Calif.) 61 — Terrell Lee scored 25 points as the Grizzlies defeated the Aztecs in two overtimes.

Travis Walton added 14 points, and Carl Albert scored 13 for the Grizzlies.

Charles Crawford paced Montgomery with 25 points.

Coalinga (Calif.) 49, Spring Valley 42 — Anthony Zataray scored 23 points to lead the Horned Toads over the Grizzlies.

Ryan Goecke led Spring Valley with eight points.

Granite Hills (Calif.) 74, Chaparral 72 — Seth Collins scored 31 points as Granite Hills earned the win in two overtimes.

Andrew Manning added 24 points for Granite Hills.

Tyree McNeal had 19 points to pace Chaparral, but fouled out and didn’t score in overtime.

Marc Silas added 16 points, and Charles Miller scored 11 for the Cowboys.

Del Sol 56, Lincoln (Colo.) 49 — Rashaun Lawson scored 20 points as the Dragons beat the Lancers.

Brian Greer added 14 points, and Eduardo Romero scored 12 for Del Sol.

Michael Sparks led Lincoln with 17 points.

Basic 67, Green Valley 49 — Jared Meacham scored 18 points as the Wolves beat the Gators.

Antraye Johnson added 15 points, and Shelldan Slayton scored 11 for Basic.

Western 38, Rancho 32 — The Warriors led 18-12 at the half and held on to beat the Rams.

David McKeever scored 11 points for Rancho.