LV PREP: Las Vegas bombs way into title game

Las Vegas High’s offense usually runs through senior forward Marquise Raybon, but perimeter shooting turned out to be the difference on Wednesday.

Josh Valencia and Mory Soumahoro combined to hit 8 of 12 3-pointers to lead the host Wildcats to a 65-49 win over Woodbridge (Calif.) in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Prep Championship.

Valencia was 5-for-7 on 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 17 points.

“Josh, percentage-wise he’s our leading 3-point shooter, so he’s kind of got a green light for the most part,” Las Vegas coach Jason Wilson said. “But they went in, and we needed them.”

Soumahoro came off the bench to knock down two key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. He started the quarter with a 3-pointer from the right wing that pushed the lead to 47-29.

After a 3-pointer by Woodbridge’s Daniel Thatcher cut the lead to 49-35, Soumahoro hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead back to 17 with 5:15 to play.

“He shoots it really well,” Wilson said. “He’s a junior, and he’s still trying to figure some stuff out, especially on defense. But when he’s on, he’s a really good shooter. And he made some big shots for us and kind of changed the momentum.”

The Warriors got as close as 52-46 with 3:06 to play after consecutive drives by Thatcher. But Raybon’s basket started a 13-0 run that allowed the Wildcats to pull away.

“They made a little run, and we had to get them to regroup and rebound,” Wilson said. “Both of their buckets that they got on that run were off offensive rebounds, and you can’t give a team that shoots it that well second chances.”

Donovan Joyner added 14 points and five assists for Las Vegas, and teammate Deondre Northey had 10 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocked shots.

Raybon had nine points, 10 rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats, who play Trinity in the championship game at 1 p.m. Thursday.

Ty Calhoun led Woodbridge with 10 points.

Trinity 66, Chaparral 47 — The Thunder held the Cowboys scoreless for more than nine minutes in the first half and rolled to the win in the other semifinal.

Chaparral tied the game at 11 on a basket by John Brooks with 2:27 to go in the first quarter. But the Cowboys didn’t score again until Brooks hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:12 to go in the first half. By then, Trinity had increased its lead to 32-14, and the Thunder led 36-14 at the half.

Jonathan Salazar had 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots to lead Trinity, which was 29-for-50 (58 percent) from the field.

Brooks had 12 points and five rebounds, and Jonathan Tendale and Samuel Porras each scored 11 for Chaparral, which missed its first 10 second-quarter shots. The Cowboys play Woodbridge in the third-place game at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Galena 55, Rancho 48 — The Rams couldn’t overcome a dismal second quarter and fell to the Grizzlies in a consolation game.

Rancho was 1-for-14 from the field and had just three points in the second quarter as Galena took control.

The Grizzlies led by as many as 12 in the third quarter before Rancho started its comeback.

The Rams got as close as one after a rebound basket by Justin Holiday cut the lead to 43-42 with 4:11 to go. But Holiday fouled out with 2:16 to go, and Galena was able to pull away.

Holiday had 28 points, four steals and two blocked shots to lead the Rams. Chrys Jackson added 12 points for Rancho, which plays McQueen in the seventh-place game at 10 a.m. Thursday.

Moses Wood paced Galena with 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Dillon Voyles added 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocked shots for the Grizzlies.

Innovations International 55, Las Vegas JV 39 — Justin Evans scored 23 points as the Ambassadors beat the Wildcats junior varsity in a consolation game.

Derec Anderson added 14 points, and Jordan Allison scored 13 for Innovations.

Eagle Rock (Calif.) 54, Innovations International 39 — The Eagles outscored the Ambassadors 36-10 in the second half to pull out the victory.

Innovations led 29-18 at the half, but Eagle Rock started the second half with a 15-0 run to grab a 33-29 lead with 1:23 to go in the third quarter.