SUNRISE BOYS: Roquemore rushes Foothill into region title game

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

Roquemore put that ability on display Thursday in the fourth quarter. The Falcon senior scored 13 points in the final 4:01 to lift his team 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 Friday at 7 p.m. 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 gave the Falcons the go-ahead 61-60 lead as Roquemore went on a personal 13-3 run.

“They were switching everything that we were running,” Soares said. “We finally just put the ball in our best ball-handler’s hands and told him to go to work. He was taking it strong and getting fouls called.”

All but two of Roquemore’s fourth-quarter points came at the line

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.

“They held us scoreless for I think four minutes, and we kind of started panicking a little bit,” Soares said. “And finally we made a free throw to get us on the scoreboard, and that settled us down.”

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

“They took us out of our game,” Soares said. “We got a little frustrated because of what they were doing to us offensively and defensively. Finally in the fourth quarter we settled down and started playing our game.”

Tyland Copeland added 11 points, and Greg Cox scored 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 lead the Pioneers into the title game.

“Jeremy Alexander, the kid’s everywhere,” Canyon Springs coach Daryl Branham said. “He’s the energy. He gets everybody going. And 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 two at 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.

“Mike’s been playing very well lately,” Thompson said. “He hit some really big shots tonight.”

Jared Brandon added 15 points and Antonio Snow had 10 for the Pioneers.

Brandon Glanz led Coronado with 26 points and 13 rebounds.