Foothill wins with late surge

Foothill's Evan Roquemore might not be the area's quickest guard, but that doesn't stop the senior from getting into the lane almost at will.

Roquemore put that ability on display in the fourth quarter Thursday, scoring 13 points in the final 4:01, to lift the Falcons to a 76-63 win over Valley in the Sunrise Region boys basketball semifinals at Liberty.

Foothill (23-6) plays Canyon Springs (24-3) in the championship game at 7 tonight at Liberty. The winner gets a berth in the state tournament.

"He's a smart kid. He understands angles, and he understands how to get his guy leaning one way and then take it the other way," Foothill coach Kevin Soares said of Roquemore, who finished with 37 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Valley (18-11) led 60-59 when Roquemore took over. His driving layup made it 61-60, and the Falcons didn't trail again as Roquemore scored all of Foothill's points in a 13-3 run.

"They were switching everything we were running," Soares said. "We finally just put the ball in our best ballhandler's hands and told him to go to work."

While it was all Roquemore down the stretch, it was all Valley in the third quarter. The Vikings rallied from a 42-37 halftime deficit to take a 54-50 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Foothill didn't score for the first 3:45 of the second half as Valley took a 47-42 lead.

Valley's Angelo Coleman had success pulling Foothill's post players to the perimeter and hitting outside shots, especially in the first half when he scored 14 of his 22 points.

Tyland Copeland added 11 points and Greg Cox 10 for Foothill. Christian Kessee had 14 points for Valley.

■ Canyon Springs 75, Coronado 59 -- Jeremy Alexander had 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots to lift the Pioneers to the title game.

"Jeremy Alexander, the kid's everywhere," Canyon Springs coach Daryl Branham said. "He's the energy. ... With his athleticism, other guys feed off him."

The 6-foot-4-inch Alexander had four dunks, including a thunderous tomahawk in the fourth quarter.

The Pioneers controlled the first quarter before allowing Coronado (23-7) to pull within 30-28 at the half.

But Michael Thompson scored 11 of his 18 points in the third quarter to help Canyon Springs take control for good.

Thompson hit a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws with a little less than two minutes to play in the third quarter to push the lead to 54-42.

Jared Brandon added 15 points for the Pioneers.

Brandon Glanz led Coronado with 26 points and 13 rebounds.

Contact Prep Sports Editor Damon Seiters at dseiters@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4587.