VEGAS INVITATIONAL: Mustangs top Golden Eagles for fifth place

The Meadows' boys basketball team had the highest finish of any of the six Southern Nevada teams in the 12th annual Vegas Invitational.

Despite placing fifth and winning their final game 65-51 over Spring Mountain on Wednesday, the Mustangs didn't get much praise from ninth-year coach Gary Hannig.

"We just talked about getting better (before the game) and this wasn't a game we got better," Hannig said. "There are certain areas we want to improve on. We're looking at winning a state championship. And you've got to continue on an upward road. We're kind of coasting."

Jake Epstein scored 18 of his game-high 30 points in the first half, and The Meadows allowed just one field goal in the second quarter to take a 41-16 lead at halftime. But the team's lackadaisical effort out of the locker room didn't sit well with Hannig.

Spring Mountain outscored The Meadows, 35-24 and forced 12 turnovers in the second half.

"There wasn't a lot of energy," Hannig said. "We were playing a lot of different kids. We wanted to work on a few things that we're not comfortable on."

The Meadows finished with 19 turnovers and shot only 10-for-29 (34.5 percent) from the field in the second half. Fortunately, the Mustangs created 26 turnovers on the defensive end.

"To be honest, I never knew what the score was," Hannig said. "It's more just for us at this point. We're trying to get better each week and each day."

Epstein also had eight rebounds, and Max Hisatake added 12 points and nine boards for The Meadows (11-1).

Guy Whitley made four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, and teammate D'Quan Porchia scored 20 for the Golden Eagles (4-5).

Epstein led the all-tournament team. Joining him were: Hanford West's Savion Johnson; Layton Christian's Mark Burton; Ocean View's Christian Anderson and Walden Grove's Conner Verdugo.

Earlier in the afternoon, St. Joseph (Calif.) beat Ocean View (Calif.), 61-49 to win the championship.

St. Joseph's Gabrys Sadaunykas was named the Most Valuable Player.

Mountain View 66, Bonanza 62 — Terrence Brooks scored 17 of his 26 points in the second quarter as the Saints built a 34-17 halftime lead en route to a win over the Bengals in a consolation game.

Tevin Gray added 22 points for Mountain View, which was 19-for-23 from the free-throw line.

Jamal Logan led Bonanza with 19 points. Davian Jordan had 11 points, and Deon Branch scored nine for the Bengals.

Pahranagat Valley 49, Lincoln County 34 — Shawn Wadsworth scored eight of his game-high 13 points in the fourth quarter to propel the Panthers by the Lynx in a consolation game.

Culen Highbe added 12 points for Pahranagat Valley.

Samuel Anderson and Kobe Walker each scored eight points for Lincoln County.