Canyon Springs outlasts Valley for third straight Sunrise championship

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Friday, Feb. 20, 2015 | 10:50 p.m.

Players on the Canyon Springs High basketball team were chanting, “This our city, this our city” during a postgame celebration Friday night after a thrilling 65-63 triple overtime victory against Valley in the Sunrise Regional championship game at Liberty.

You can’t argue with the logic.

The Pioneers erased a 16-point second-quarter deficit and prevailed in a wild three overtime periods — including not having a field goal attempt in the first overtime — to win their third straight Sunrise title and earn a spot in next week’s Division I state tournament at the Orleans Arena.

Canyon Springs has won four of the last five Sunrise crowns and the 2011 state championship to stake claim as one of the city’s elite programs. Today’s victory helped cement that argument.

“I told my kids they have to be mentally tough in everything,” Canyon Springs coach Freddie Banks said. “That’s how we played. That was a hell of a game, man.”

Canyon Springs point guard Jordan Davis was the unquestioned best player on the court, scoring seven of his game-high 35 points in the third overtime to help the Pioneers escape. They trailed 61-58 with about two minutes remaining, but Davis scored six straight points to give them the lead for good.

It wasn’t even his most impressive performance of the night.

Davis, who will play at Northern Colorado next season, started the comeback at the end of the first half by scoring six points in the half’s final four seconds. Yes, four seconds.

He was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and buried all three fouls shots. Then, he stole the in bounds pass and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to trim the Canyon Springs deficit to 31-23 at the break.

Forget about the score, Canyon Springs had all the momentum.

“That woke all the seniors up,” Davis said. “They didn’t want the season to end. It made us play harder.”

Canyon Springs trailed 31-15 with about three minutes to play in the second quarter. But a 13-0 scoring run from the second to third quarter had the defending champions back in the game.

Canyon Springs couldn’t be stopped in building a 52-42 lead with less than four minutes to play in regulation, including an 8-0 scoring run to open the fourth quarter. Davis had three baskets in the rally and dished a nifty pass to D’Quan Crockett for the other points. Crockett scored 11 for the Pioneers.

But to Valley’s credit, they erased the deficit to force overtime. Shea Garland ignited the comeback with a 3-point play and 3-pointer within the span of a minute to immediately trim the deficit to four points. Cameron Burton’s 3-point play with 43 seconds remaining tied the game at 54.

Both teams had shots near the basket in the final 10 seconds of regulation, but neither could convert. That started a wild overtime.

Garland won the tip for Valley in the first overtime and the Vikings played keep away with the ball until about 30 seconds remained. Canyon Springs briefly stole the ball, but Valley stole it back and missed the eventual game-winning shot.

Four minutes went by and neither team scored. Canyon Springs didn’t even cross halfcourt with the ball. Valley employed a similar strategy in the second overtime time and each team scored just two points to force a third overtime.

That’s when Valley ran out of gas. With the exception of one starter sitting out the final two minutes of the first half, Valley’s starting five played the entire game through the second overtime. In the third overtime, Garland and Nick Brannon fouled out.

Canyon Springs’ speed on defense immediately took advantage in forcing turnovers. Davis did the rest to win another title.

“We just waited on defense for them to make a mistake,” Davis said of Valley’s strategy to drain the clock. “When they make a mistake, we took the ball right at them.”

Davis has been a key contributor the past two seasons, mostly in a secondary role to older players. This year, he’s been the difference-maker every game in the Sunrise tournament.

But he’s not the lone reason why Canyon Springs won.

Channel Banks led them in scoring Thursday and is peaking at the end of the year. Kajuan Casey and Maurice Hunter play strong defense and do the little things that always don’t show up in the box score.

“Team win,” Banks said. “I have confidence in my team. On to the Orleans (state).”

The season isn’t over for Valley. Because the state tournament is in Las Vegas, the Vikings play Sunset Regional runner-up Palo Verde at 7 p.m. Monday at Chaparral in the state play-in game.

Garland led Valley with 19 points, including two clutch 3-pointers. Burton had 18 points, Taveon Jackson had 14 and Nick Brannon scored 11.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21