FOOTHILL CLASSIC: Willis crashes glass, sends Canyon Springs boys to semifinals

Chris Willis wasn’t the leading scorer for Canyon Springs’ boys basketball team on Saturday.

But his relentless efforts on the glass, especially at the offensive end, helped keep the Pioneers alive in the Foothill Holiday Classic’s Gold Division.

Willis had 12 points and 11 rebounds to lead Canyon Springs to an 86-61 win over Threatt Academy (Australia) and move the Pioneers into the tournament’s semifinals, where they will play Redondo Union (Calif.) at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Foothill.

Willis was especially important in the first half against Threatt. He had seven rebounds, mostly on the offensive end, to help the Pioneers overcome cold outside shooting.

“The kid is just nonstop,” Canyon Springs coach Daryl Branham said. “He works so hard at rebounding. Sometimes other guys get to watching him too much, and expect him to get it all done.

“But you can’t say enough about how hard Chris works.”

The Pioneers were 1-for-8 on 3-pointers in the first half, and shot just 14 for 43 for 32.6 percent from the field in the first half. But the team’s work on the offensive glass helped them take a 35-30 lead at the break.

Canyon Springs heated up in the second half, making 20 of 40 field goals, including 5 of 11 on 3-pointers to pull away.

And Jared Brandon came through, with 11 points and five rebounds after the break to help spur the Pioneers.

Brandon finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.

“We’ve been stressing that we have to stay on the boards because we’re not a real big team,” Branham said. “It’s just a lot of determination between Chris Willis and Jared Brandon. They’re really working hard on the offensive glass.”

Michael Thompson scored 20 points for the Pioneers, and teammate Donald Anderson added 11 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Dalibor Nonkovic had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead Threatt.

Canyon Springs was one of only two Southern Nevada teams to win a first-round game, and the only local team still undefeated in the Gold Division.

Thompson had 18 points and Brandon scored 17 in a 66-57 opening-round win over Denver East.

“It’s nice to be in the main gym and on the right side of the bracket,” Branham said.

Melbourne 1 (Australia) 59, Palo Verde 47 — Deng Deng’s basket with 4:54 to play gave Melbourne a 41-40 lead, and the Australian team went on to defeat the Panthers in the quarterfinals.

Deng finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and five blocked shots, including scoring nine points in the final five minutes.

Nahjee Matlock led Palo Verde with 14 points, and Jordyn Martin had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Panthers.

Palo Verde 60, Lincoln (Colo.) 48 — Matlock had 18 points, six rebounds and four steals to lead the Panthers past the Lancers in the opening round.

Dominic Williams led Lincoln with 18 points and nine rebounds.

Arbor View 64, Liberty 57 — Zach Hutchins hit two free throws with 1:38 to play to give the Aggies a 56-55 lead, and they held on to defeat the Patriots.

Arbor View was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line in the final minute.

Blake Claxton had 22 points to lead the Aggies, who went 17-for-19 from the line in the second half.

DeAndrea Johnson added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Arbor View.

Thunder Ridge (Colo.) 51, Arbor View 44 — Ryan Pagnotta scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half to lead the Grizzlies past the Aggies in the opening round.

Johnson led Arbor View with 12 points and seven rebounds, and DeAndre Bright had 11 points, seven rebounds and three steals for the Aggies.

Foothill 75, Las Vegas 71 — Brannon Cresanto hit four 3-pointers en route to 20 points as the Falcons downed the Wildcats.

Zach Ginter added 11 points, and Taylor Montgomery and Augy French each grabbed nine rebounds for Foothill, which trailed 44-36 at the half.

George Sanico had 28 points and four steals to lead Las Vegas.

Travon Langston added 21 points and nine rebounds for the Wildcats.

Redondo Union (Calif.) 57, Foothill 47 —  Mwelu Mataya had 15 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots to help the Sea Hawks beat the Falcons in the opening round.

Cresanto led Foothill with 18 points and four assists, and Ginter grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Valley 70, Lincoln (Colo.) 57 — Jarrett Coleman hit four 3-pointers and scored 20 points to lead the Vikings past the Lancers.

Caleb Carter added 11 points, including eight in the second half, for Valley.

Williams scored 23 for Lincoln.

Melbourne 1 (Australia) 62, Valley 53 — Deng had 13 points to lead Melbourne past the Vikings in the opening round.

Christian Kessee scored 17 points and Angelo Coleman added 11 for Valley.

Bishop Manogue 74, Las Vegas 69 — Brennan Hogan had 24 points, and Ethan Dillard scored 22 to lead the Miners past the Wildcats in the opening round.

Hasaan Henderson led four Las Vegas players in double figures with 16 points. Phil Dunigan added 15 points, Sanico scored 14 and Juwan Major had 13 for the Wildcats.

Threatt Academy (Australia) 68, Legacy 62 — Eamon Lamron-Ripon had 22 points to lead Threatt over the Longhorns in the opening round.

Brandon Galindo led Legacy with 15 points. Cardon Harris had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Zach Lane scored 14 for the Longhorns.

Denver East 49, Legacy 47 — Dominique Collier had 16 points as the Angels edged the Longhorns.

Galindo scored 11 to lead Legacy.

Salpointe (Ariz.) 62, Liberty 50 — Colby Weaver had 23 points to lead the Lancers past the Patriots in the opening round.

Aaron Navitsky led Liberty with 14 points, and teammate Elijah Graves had 10 points.

Desert Oasis 73, Ridgewood (Ill.) 66 — Zach Bobenhausen’s layup with just under three minutes left in overtime gave the Diamondbacks the lead for good in a win over the Rebels.

Cameron Mich’l had 24 points and 12 rebounds for Desert Oasis, which advanced to the Silver Division semifinals.

Anthony Lianzo scored 21 points for the Diamondbacks, and teammate Kenneth Bridges-Lewis supplied 10 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.

Desert Oasis 64, Melbourne 2 (Australia) 55 — Mich’l racked up 26 points and five rebounds to lead the Diamondbacks to the opening-round win.

Lianzo added 23 points for Desert Oasis, which built a 38-30 halftime lead.

Shadow Ridge 50, Valhalla (Calif.) 48 — David Everage’s put-back with 5.8 seconds left gave the Mustangs the win.

Everage led Shadow Ridge with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and teammate Austin Tiner tallied 10 points and three steals.

The win moved the Mustangs to the Silver semifinals.

Shadow Ridge 58, Galena 48 — Nick Flowers scored 22 points as the Mustangs downed the Grizzlies in the opening round.

Everage added 14 points for Shadow Ridge, which used a 20-13 edge in the fourth quarter to pull away.

Gulliver (Fla.) 78, Green Valley 75 — A.J. Leggett hit a pair of free throws with 46 seconds left in the second overtime to give the Raiders the win over the Gators in the quarterfinals.

Green Valley rallied from a 40-26 halftime hole to force overtime.

Michael Thornton led Green Valley with 24 points, and Earl Thompson scored 23 for the Gators.

Green Valley 78, Melbourne (Australia) 39 — Thornton scored 14 points to lead the Gators to the easy win in the opening round.

Fourteen players scored for Green Valley, which went on a 21-2 run in the third quarter.

Faith Lutheran 54, Del Sol 27 — Greg Thomas scored 12 points, and Brett Lubbe supplied 10 points and 11 rebounds to help the Crusaders beat the Dragons.

James Hammer had eight points and nine rebounds for Faith Lutheran, which led 30-11 at halftime.

Hug 65, Faith Lutheran 58 — Andrew Johnson and Sam Williams each scored 16 points to help the Hawks beat the Crusaders in the opening round.

Lubbe had 21 points and 10 rebounds for Faith Lutheran, and Thomas contributed 18 points and six rebounds for the Crusaders.

Bonanza 71, Melbourne 3 (Australia) 36 — Matt Figgins scored 15 points to lead the Bengals to the win.

Robbie Sagel had 14 points and nine rebounds for Bonanza, and teammate John King scored 11.

Gulliver (Fla.) 74, Bonanza 52 — Stacy Thomas scored 30 points to lift the Raiders over the Bengals in the opening round.

Teshawn Campbell led Bonanza with 11 points, and Figgins scored 10 for the Bengals.

Granite Hills (Calif.) 71, Del Sol 60 — Garrett Larch-Miller scored 24 points to lead the Eagles past the Dragons.

Kevin Fitzpatrick and James Johnson led Del Sol with 12 points each.

Ridgewood (Ill.) 59, Basic 51 — John Caravia scored 20 points to lead the Rebels past the Wolves.

Vince Carducci led Basic with 17 points, and Jaylen Rose scored 11 for the Wolves.

Valhalla (Calif.) 66, Desert Pines 64 — Matt Butcher nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Norsemen the victory.

Najee McIver led Desert Pines with 17 points, and teammates Leon Saunders (13) and Olajuwon Diggs (10) also scored in double figures for the Jaguars.

Melbourne 2 (Australia) 74, Basic 58 — Melbourne sank 20 of 27 free throws to defeat the Wolves.

Carducci led Basic with 22 points, and Kyle Taitano scored 10 for the Wolves.

Galena 65, Desert Pines 64 — Nate Hosmer’s layup off an in-bounds pass with less than 35 seconds left lifted the Grizzlies past the Jaguars, whose attempt at a game-winner sailed wide.

Joshua Velarde scored 23 points, and Saunders added 12 points for Desert Pines.