VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Bengals fall to Layton Christian

Despite a poor shooting performance from beyond the 3-point line Monday, Bonanza's boys basketball team found itself in a dogfight late in the fourth quarter.

But the Bengals could not capitalize on their opportunity, as they shot 6 of 17 from the field in the fourth quarter before losing 63-58 to Layton Christian (Utah) in a second-round game of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View.

"We panicked a little bit there," Bonanza coach Dan Savage said of his team's fourth quarter. "We thought we had to start shooting 3-pointers and there was still a lot of time left. We could have tried to get to the line and stop the clock a little bit. But we settled a little too much."

Bonanza shot 24-for-60 (40.0 percent) from the field, but made only 4 of 22 (18.2 percent) 3-pointers in a close, back-and-forth game. The Bengals hit just 2 of 10 3-pointers in the fourth quarter.

"Everybody was chucking (3-pointers) up," Savage said. "They just weren't dropping tonight. They need to recognize that. When they aren't falling, you have to create opportunities. You can't just keep shooting yourself out of it."

Bonanza's Travis Jenkins, who scored all seven of his points in the fourth quarter, got fouled while hitting a runner in the lane to make it 57-56 with 2:22 to go. But the senior missed his free-throw attempt, and Layton Christian closed the game on a 6-2 run for the final margin.

Poor execution on offense and the play of Layton Christian backup center Jigal Costa was the difference at the end. Costa scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter and added six rebounds to spark the Eagles, who trailed 27-25 at halftime and overcame eight ties in the game.

"I thought he'd be effective after watching him in warm-ups, but he probably only played a minute in the first half," Savage said. "He just found some open areas and finished them late."

Bonanza last tied it up at 54 after senior forward Davian Jordan stole a ball at halfcourt and took it all the way to the other end for an emphatic one-handed dunk. But Layton Christian's Christian Gutierrez, who scored 16 points, quickly answered with a 3-pointer for a 57-54 lead.

Jamal Logan, who entered Monday's game averaging 24.3 points per game, struggled mightily and finished with a season-low 10 points. He also had six rebounds and two steals.

"I think he was just off. They didn't do anything super special," Savage said. "His shot was off in the first half. He figured it out and started going to the rim and creating some scoring opportunities for himself. But it's tough when you are a shooter. You're going to shoot."

Deon Branch had 14 points, and Jordan finished with 12 points and five rebounds for Bonanza (8-4).

Mark Burton scored 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half to lead Layton Christian. Nicolas Aguirre added 10 points, two assists and two steals for the Eagles.

The Meadows 79, Buhach Colony (Calif.) 55 — Jake Epstein scored 31 points to lead the Mustangs by the Thunder.

Asheesh Chopra hit four 3-pointers and finished with 23 points for The Meadows, which also got 10 points from Max Hisatake.

Pardeep Dhillion and Jeremy Sicarios each had 11 points for Buhach Colony, and teammate Alex Andrade scored 10.

St. Joseph (Calif.) 88, Lincoln County 33 — JoJo Walker led four double-figure scorers with 18 points in the Knights' easy win over the Lynx.

Gabrys Sadaunykas and Scott McBeth each had 17 points, and Cristian Rubalcaba added 12 points for St. Joseph.

Samuel Anderson led Lincoln County with nine points.

Granite Hills (Calif.) 50, Pahranagat Valley 28 — David Setterberg scored 15 points, and Cameron Spitzer had 10 points as the Eagles routed the Panthers.

Shawn Wadsworth and Tabor Maxwell each had nine points for Pahranagat Valley, which trailed 34-14 at the break.

Hanford West (Calif.) 56, Spring Mountain 43 — Dameane Douglas scored 20 points to power the Huskies by the Golden Eagles.

Savion Johnson added 17 points for Hanford West, which led 25-16 at halftime.

D'Quan Porchia had 18 points, and teammate Guy Whitley scored 11 for Spring Mountain.

St. Joseph (Calif.) 67, The Meadows 52 — Sadaunykas led all scorers with 21 points, and Walker added 20 points to help the Knights win and give the Mustangs their first loss of the season.

McBeth also scored nine points for St. Joseph, which led 27-7 after the first quarter and 43-22 at halftime.

Epstein led The Meadows with 18 points. Hisatake scored 11, and Ethan Fridman had 10 points for the Mustangs.