VEGAS INVITE: Undersized Panthers hustle past Santana, into title game

Plenty of teams at the Vegas Invitational have more size and athleticism than Pahranagat Valley’s boys basketball team.

But there might be none that play as hard as the Panthers.

Pahranagat Valley consistently got to loose balls and made a bevy of hustle plays on its way to a 54-42 win over Santana (Calif.) in a semifinal game at Mountain View on Wednesday.

“They play real hard. Both ends of the floor, there’s no letting up,” Panthers coach Brian Higbee said. “I think we do outwork teams. We talk about keeping a tempo so at the end of the game, (opponents) are kind of worn down.”

Santana has players as tall as 6 feet 8 inches, while Pahranagat Valley has none taller than 6-1.

It didn’t matter, as the defending Class 1A state champion Panthers (11-0) held an opponent to 50 or fewer points for the eighth time this season.

“I think the key tonight was definitely our defense,” Higbee said. “They had some size on us inside, but we were able to do a nice job with Jeremy (Roemer) rotating.”

Roemer, a senior forward, led the Panthers’ inside game with eight points, 10 rebounds and two steals.

Senior guard Cody Hosier provided an outside punch, finishing with 22 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Tyler Higbee scored seven points for Pahranagat Valley, and teammate Kade Wadsworth supplied four points and seven rebounds.

Pahranagat Valley is one of the smallest schools among the 18 in the tournament, but it will play St. Joseph (Calif.) for the tournament title at 8 p.m. Thursday.

“(The championship) would mean a lot to add to the confidence we have going right now,” Brian Higbee said. “We’ve just got to come out one quarter at a time and do the things that we do.”

James Doherty led Santana with 10 points.

St. Joseph (Calif.) 97, Agassi Prep 71 — Brad Zimmer poured in 26 points, and Bebe Vargas scored 22 as the Knights set a tournament record for points in a game to roll past the Stars in the other semifinal.

Case Bruton and Keith Datu added 13 points apiece for St. Joseph.

Kailinn Jackson led Agassi Prep with 27 points, and Quincy Brown tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Stars.

Mountain View 67, Tech 64 — Senior guard Justyn Anderson shattered the tournament record with 48 points to carry the Saints past the Roadrunners in a losers’ bracket game.

Anderson, who also had seven rebounds and four steals, scored 17 points in the second quarter as Mountain View outscored Tech 23-10 to build a 31-25 halftime lead.

Anderson sank two free throws with 7.9 seconds left to give the Saints a 67-62 lead and seal the win.

“I just wanted to come out and get my team going, and I just kind of caught fire early,” Anderson said. “Once I got started, it was kind of hard to stop.”

Anderson broke the previous record of 35 points, shared by two players since the tournament’s inception in 2004. He was 21-for-23 from the free-throw line.

“He understands footwork, so when he’s going to the basket, he knows where other people are on the floor,” Mountain View coach Ray LeBoeuf said. “And he knows what they’re going to do four or five steps later.

“He’s going to get the shot off, create contact and still have ball control.”

Matthew Larson scored seven points, and fellow freshman Keith Flowers had 10 rebounds and two blocked shots for Mountain View.

Michael Johnson led Tech with 31 points and 12 rebounds. Manny Vieites added 14 points for the Roadrunners.

Needles 66, River Valley (Ariz.) 48 — Michael Hills had 18 points, five assists and five steals as the Mustangs cruised to a win in the consolation semifinals.

Aaron Burns added 14 points and seven rebounds for Needles, which led 31-20 at halftime.

Matt Cronn led River Valley with 17 points.

The Meadows 62, White Pine 51 — Garrett Gosse scored 30 points to lead the Mustangs past the Bobcats in a consolation game.

Austin Brown had 15 points, and Max Newman scored 14 for The Meadows, which led 31-19 at halftime.

Thorn O’Dell led White Pine with 13 points.

Desert Christian (Calif.) 70, Beatty 55 — William Kreiger scored 20 points to lead the Knights by the Hornets in a consolation semifinal.

Christian Kerr had 13 points, and Anthony Vargas and Branden Raulston each scored 11 for Desert Christian.

Ramiro Hernandez paced Beatty with 12 points.

Buckley (Calif.) 92, Calvary Chapel 35 — Larry Bush scored 19 points to help the Griffins rout the Lions in a losers’ bracket game.

Chase Holiday (12 points), Nick De Bonfilhs (11) and Tyler Carter-Coppin (10) also scored in double figures for Buckley.

Joey Peterson paced Calvary Chapel with 11 points.

River Valley (Ariz.) 64, Adelson School 35 — Cronn scored 23 points as the Dust Devils swept away the Lions.

Gabriel Bornstein scored 11 points and Mendy Berrebi 10 points for Adelson.

Aussie Travelers 38, Spring Mountain 29 — Nick Womersley scored 12 points and Adrian Peacock 10 to help the Travelers beat the Eagles in a consolation game.

Maurice Williams led Spring Mountain with 11 points.