SUNRISE BOYS: Falcons slow pace, hold off Gators

When Foothill’s boys basketball team spreads the floor, it’s usually met with calls of “shot clock” from opposing fans.

But Falcons coach Kevin Soares thinks it’s just good basketball.

On Wednesday, Foothill ran almost three minutes off the clock early in the fourth quarter, stalling Green Valley’s momentum, and the Falcons held on for a 72-61 home victory in the Sunrise Region quarterfinals.

“They got a little bit going at the end of the third (quarter) there, so we wanted to try to keep that clock running as much as we could,” Soares said.

Foothill (21-6) plays Las Vegas (21-6) in the semifinals at 4:40 p.m. on Thursday at Green Valley.

Two free throws by Green Valley’s Alexander Hicks cut the Foothill lead to 58-44 with 7:45 to play.

That’s when the Falcons spread the floor. They held the ball without taking a shot until Troy Cropper came up with a steal with 4:54 to go.

“We did what we had to do to get the lead,” Soares said. “Now it’s up to them to try to get back into the game. People can yell ‘shot clock’ all they want, but we did what we had to do for 3½ quarters.

“It’s the state of Nevada. If they get (a shot clock), we’ll adjust what we do. But if not, we’re going to play by the rules.”

Matt Rapp and Austin Starr combined to hit seven 3-pointers in the middle quarters to help Foothill build its lead. The Falcons answered many Green Valley buckets with a 3-pointer to help stop the momentum.

“We stress pushing the ball up the floor, early offense and trying to get wide-open looks,” Soares said. “So our shooters run. Everybody runs; our bigs run. And we’ve got, I think, one of the best passers in the state.”

That passer, point guard Jalen Shepard, helped the Falcons take the lead early. Starr, the team’s leading scorer, didn’t play in the first quarter. Soares would only say “it’s an in-house thing,” but the Falcons didn’t miss a beat.

Shepard finished with 14 points, nine rebounds and six assists.

Foothill also was helped by Green Valley’s cold start. The Gators were 2-for-15 from the field in the first quarter as they fell behind, 15-8.

“It was a combo. We played pretty well on defense, but they missed some wide-open looks, too,” Soares said. “I think a lot of it was nerves from it being the playoffs.”

Starr finished with 18 points, and Rapp scored 16 for Foothill, which got 13 points from Torrance Littles.

Cropper led Green Valley (10-16) with 20 points and six steals. Tyrell Crosby added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Gators, who cut the lead to 70-61 on a basket by Cordell Tidwell with 32.3 seconds to play.

Soares had emptied his bench early, but watched his reserves miss 5 of 6 free throws in the final minute before reinserting his regulars for the final 30 seconds.

“I wanted them to get to experience the playoffs,” Soards said. “They didn’t do what they needed to do making free throws. Hopefully they’ll learn from that, and if they get another opportunity, they’ll be well-prepard.”

Las Vegas 84, Basic 68 — At Las Vegas, Re’Kwon Smith scored 29 points to lift the Wildcats over the Wolves.

Patrick Savoy had 19 points, and Devon Colley scored 13 points for Las Vegas, which got 12 points from Tyler Bey.

Robert Sutton led Basic (11-16) with 25 points, and teammate Josh Villaros scored 20.

Valley 83, Coronado 56 — At Coronado, Gerard Harden led four double-figure scorers with 20 points as the Vikings downed the Cougars.

Spencer Mathis had 16 points, and Shea Garland scored 14 for Valley (22-6), which will face Canyon Springs (22-4) in a region semifinal at 4:40 p.m. Thursday at Green Valley.

Cameron Burton added 12 points for Valley, which led 40-24 at halftime.

Eddie Austin scored 18 points, and Travis Boman added 12 points for Coronado (13-13).

Canyon Springs 106, Eldorado 76 — At Canyon Springs, Shaquile Carr scored 22 points, and Gerad Davis had 18 points as the Pioneers sprinted past the Sundevils.

Darrell McCall supplied 13 points, and Channel Banks scored 10 for Canyon Springs, which bolted to a 52-28 halftime lead.

Jayveon Brown had 28 points to lead Eldorado (7-16), and teammate Jacob Hollingsworth scored 15.