SUNRISE GIRLS: Gators land knockout punch, eliminate Wolves

Two starters on Basic’s girls basketball team were out of the game because of foul trouble midway through the second quarter Tuesday, and Green Valley coach Eric Johnston sensed an opening.

So Johnston called a timeout and encouraged his players to go for the knockout blow.

“I told them, ‘In the next four minutes, you can put the game away,’ ” Johnston said.

The Gators heard the message, using a 9-2 surge during the final 4:06 of the second quarter to take an 18-point halftime lead and coasting to a 64-37 victory over visiting Basic in the quarterfinals of the Division I Sunrise Region tournament.

Green Valley (19-9), which won its first playoff game since 2010, will host defending region champion Liberty (23-4) at 3 p.m. Thursday in the first region semifinal.

“Four years ago, Green Valley was in the region final, but since then it’s been pretty dry,” Johnston said. “Hosting a playoff game and winning was obviously a goal at the beginning of the year. But we’re not happy with just one win. We want another one Thursday.”

Brooke Haney led four Gators in double figures with 15 points to go along with six rebounds and five steals. Maggie Manwarren had 13 points and six rebounds, Rianna Rudolph added 13 points and seven boards, and Ellee Barton supplied 11 points for Green Valley.

Basic’s Happy Butler picked up her third foul with 5:37 remaining in the second quarter. Dana Deloney followed her to the bench a minute later with her third personal and the Wolves (10-13) down 22-11. Green Valley pushed the lead to 15, and Basic coach Teresa Gallegos put Butler and Deloney back in the game with 1:39 left in the half.

But Butler was charged with her fourth foul 11 seconds later, and Deloney sat the final 58 seconds as Green Valley went up 31-13 at the half.

“Unfortunately, we’re not deep enough to handle foul problems,” Gallegos said. “The first time we played we were down 27 I think, and it was too much of a gap to come back from. We had to take the gamble and put them back in.”

Rudolph had a three-point play after one of her five steals to put the Gators up 43-23 with 3:06 to go in the third quarter, and Green Valley led by as many as 28 points in the fourth quarter.

Jayla Brown posted 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots for Basic, which committed 26 turnovers and went 14-for-58 from the field.

“Jayla and Dana are great basketball players, and if you take one of them out of the game it improves your chances against that team a lot,” Johnston said. “When we’re rotating right and doing the right things, we know our pressure can give a lot of teams trouble.”

Coronado 77, Canyon Springs 68 — At Canyon Springs, Dajah Washington scored 21 points as the Cougars (17-11) stunned the Northeast League champion Pioneers (20-3).

Grace Green added 18 points, and Karlie Thorn scored 17 for Coronado, which will face Foothill (22-6) in the semifinals at 6:20 p.m. Thursday at Green Valley.

Alexia Thrower had 23 points, and Cherise Beynon scored 22 for Canyon Springs, which made just 9 of 23 free throws. Coronado shot 20 of 26 from the free-throw line.

Foothill 66, Rancho 48 — At Foothill, Taylor Turney scored 25 points to propel the Falcons over the Rams.

Kelsey McFarland had 12 points, and Gabby Doxtator added 10 points for Foothill, which raced out to a 38-19 halftime lead.

LaKissa Martin supplied 15 points, and Darje Martin scored 14 for Rancho (20-9).

Liberty 54, Valley 32 — At Liberty, Paris Strawther had 18 points and 12 rebounds to guide the Patriots past the Vikings.

Kealy Brown added 10 points, and Jamellia Clark contributed seven points, five rebounds and five assists for Liberty, which used a 16-2 third quarter run to pull away.

Gabrielle Cabanero paced Valley (14-8) with 14 points.