SUNRISE REGION: Canyon Springs boys sink Sundevils

“They threw a haymaker at us,” Banks said. “I told the kids, ‘It’s OK. We’re only down two points. Let’s regroup.’ I knew it would come sooner or later.”

Gerad Davis scored 12 of his 19 points in the second half, and the Pioneers shot 66.7 percent from the field after the break to beat host Eldorado 74-66 in the quarterfinals of the Sunrise Region tournament.

Canyon Springs (16-10) faces Las Vegas (19-9) in the semifinals at 4:40 p.m. Thursday at Green Valley.

“We’re a second-half team,” Davis said. “We stepped up in the second half like always.”

The Sundevils (14-10), who trailed for most of the second quarter, closed the period on a 17-5 run to take a 33-31 lead into the locker room. And when D.J. Billingsley hit a turnaround jumper to open the third quarter, Eldorado led, 35-31.

But Canyon Springs answered with an 11-1 run to take a 42-36 lead and never trailed again. The Pioneers went 14-for-21 from the floor in the second half after going 11-for-40 in the opening 16 minutes.

Chris Swanson finished with 17 points. Tim Straghter added 15 points and 13 rebounds for Canyon Springs.

The Pioneers outrebounded Eldorado 21-11 in the second half and 45-34 for the game.

“Their guards were breaking us down,” Eldorado coach Phil Olsen said. “They had a lot more speed. We couldn’t contain them, and it made their big guys more effective.”

Eldorado, which was led by Billingsley’s 23 points and 10 rebounds, got as close as 58-55 in the fourth quarter. The Pioneers responded with an 11-0 run — Davis had six points during the spurt — and were up by as many as 15 points late.

Darrion Daniels added 12 points for the Sundevils, and Jayveon Brown finished with 11 points.

Eldorado struggled offensively for much of the game and finished 26-for-73 (35.6 percent) from the field.

“Our shot selection was terrible,” Olsen said. “A lot of that had to do with their speed.”

Las Vegas 63, Liberty 49 — At Las Vegas, Leo Goodman had 15 points, and the Wildcats used a 27-7 third-quarter run to down the Patriots (10-17).

Aziz Leeks had 13 points, and Re’Kwon Smith scored 10 for Las Vegas.

Tyler Newman led Liberty with 16 points, and teammate Elijah Graves scored 10.

Foothill 89, Green Valley 69 — At Foothill, Elijah Smith poured in 40 points, including a 17-for-29 effort from the free-throw line, to lead the Falcons (22-5) by the Gators (12-15).

Smith, who had 15 second-quarter points, added six steals. Chris Echols added 19 points, and Taylor Montgomery had eight points, eight rebounds and four steals for Foothill, which will face Valley at 4:40 p.m. Thursday at Green Valley.

Troy Cropper had 25 points, and Tyler Roberts scored 22 for the Gators.

Valley 81, Basic 60 — At Valley, Cameron Burton scored 21 points as the Vikings (20-8) rallied from a 29-26 halftime deficit to eliminate the Wolves (15-8).

Daniel Young had 19 points, and Spencer Mathis scored 16 for Valley, which got 14 points from Ryan Johnson.

Andrew Lopez had 16 points, and Aaron Hiedeman scored 14 for Basic. Jaylen Rose added 10 points for the Wolves.