VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Meadows rebounds, upsets Bonanza

He liked what he saw on short rest Tuesday morning.

Max Hisatake had 22 points and 18 rebounds and made a key defensive stop in the game’s final possession in the Mustangs’ 60-57 upset win over Bonanza in a third-round game of the Vegas Invitational at Mountain View.

“That’s a good win for our program,” Hannig said. “We thought we could (beat a Division I program). Not to sound overconfident, but I’ve watched them play. They’re a really good team, but I felt we could play with them if we stayed out of foul trouble. And we did.”

The Meadows, a Division III school, appeared in position to run away with the game after grabbing a three-point lead at the end of the third quarter and opening the fourth on a 4-0 run to take a 48-41 lead with seven minutes to play.

But the outcome came down to the game’s final possession as the Mustangs allowed a run and turned the ball over on an unsuccessful inbounds play with 14.7 seconds to go.

“(Asheesh Chopra) just didn’t establish both feet in bounds,” Hannig said of the turnover. “There was only 15 seconds left and they probably would have fouled. That’s something you’ve got to be able to execute.”

Bonanza, which trailed 58-57 at the time, had one final attempt to take the lead but couldn’t get a shot off. Jamal Logan had the ball on the left wing and drove to the basket looking to pass. He sent a would-be assist right into the arms of a jumping Hisatake, who handled the ball and sent it to a speeding Chopra at the other end of the court for an easy layup at the buzzer.

Hisatake made only 6 of 12 shots at the free-throw line, but sparked the Mustangs’ second-half rally because of his dominating low-post presence. He scored 14 of his 22 points in the second half, including eight in the fourth quarter, and was a key contributor on the glass down the stretch. The Meadows outrebounded Bonanza, 39-28.

“Max really played pretty solid today,” Hannig said. “It seemed like he had close to 20 rebounds. And against a team like that, they’re bigger than us, they more athletic than us. Max was key in rebounding.”

Chopra finished with 12 points, and Jake Epstein had nine points, six rebounds and three assists for the Mustangs, who shot 23 of 56 (41.1 percent) from the field, a day after struggling in a 67-52 loss to St. Joseph (Calif.).

Davian Jordan led the Bengals with 17 points and seven rebounds, and teammate Jacob Perez had 11 points and six rebounds for Bonanza (8-5).

Logan, the team’s leading scorer, was limited to 10 points and three assists for the Bengals, who led 27-26 at halftime.

“Jake (Epstein) always draws the toughest guy on opposing teams,” Hannig said. “His on-ball defense is really good. And the help on (Logan) was pretty good. We didn’t want him to go off for 25 (points).”

Bonanza was 22-for-63 (34.9 percent) from the field.

Buhach Colony (Calif.) 65, Lincoln County 32 — Dylan Jennings scored 12 points as the Thunder built a 30-10 halftime lead en route to an easy win over the Lynx.

Travis Lema added eight points for Buhach Colony, which got scoring contributions from 13 players.

Derek Cox led Lincoln County with 10 points.

River Valley (Ariz.) 52, Pahranagat Valley 40 — David Larrabee scored 14 of his game-high 24 points in the third quarter to help the Dust Devils top the Panthers.

Ruben Larrabee had 11 points, and Luiz Castro scored nine for River Valley, which led 27-19 at halftime.

Cody Williams and Culen Highbe each scored 13 points for Pahranagat Valley.

Mountain View 62, Christian Unified (Calif.) 47 — Tevin Gray had 18 of his 23 points in the first half to lead the Saints by the Patriots.

Tyrell Brooks added 14 points for Mountain View, which led 41-27 at the half.

Travis Ballard led the Patriots with 20 points.

El Rancho (Calif.) 67, Spring Mountain 45 — Noah Losoya had all 19 of his points in the first half as the Dons built a 40-7 halftime lead and cruised by the Golden Eagles.

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