Geiger, Pioneers put away Gators

For more than 14 minutes, Canyon Springs' Deremy Geiger was ice cold, and Green Valley was hanging with the Pioneers.

Canyon Springs led 31-29 when Geiger made his first shot with 1:54 left in the first half. He then hit six of his next seven attempts, helping the Pioneers turn a close game into a blowout as they defeated visiting Green Valley 84-63 in a rematch of last year's Sunrise Region title game.

"The more the outside opens up, the more the inside is going to open up and Juron (Criner) and Raveon (Samuel) can go down and finish," Canyon Springs coach Daryl Branham said. "It's always important for him to get going."

Geiger finished with a game-high 25 points. He had 17 by the end of the third quarter as the Pioneers had extended a seven-point halftime advantage to 17 points.

Though the Utah State-bound point guard wasn't alone in fueling the Pioneers, his hot streak did coincide with his team's big run.

"We were kind of lethargic offensively," Branham said of the slow start. "Early on, we were kind of standing still, not moving and not passing the ball. The seniors really stepped things up in the second half, applied more defensive pressure and got things going."

That defensive pressure forced turnovers on Green Valley's first four second-half possessions, and the Pioneers scored the first 10 points of the second half. Green Valley turned the ball over 23 times total.

Criner got going in that spurt, running the floor for a fast-break slam and crashing the boards for a follow dunk to ignite his team.

"That's what we try to do is create turnovers and apply defensive pressure," Criner said.

The Pioneers also got a lift from 6-foot-7-inch senior Kevin Wilson, who had 14 points and nine rebounds and gave Canyon Springs a presence in the post.

"Kevin's been doing much, much better this year," Branham said. "He's really worked hard in the offseason, and he's starting to do well and give us more minutes. He's getting some offensive rebounds and put-backs, and that really helps us."

Criner and Devonte Christopher each had 14 points, and Geiger added six rebounds, eight assists and four steals.

Cody Aughney paced Green Valley with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.

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